Chasing Shadows
by xx-Forever Yours-xx
Summary: Your past follows you, like a shadow in the light; it haunts you wherever you go. You can't erase it and no matter how fast you go, you can't outrun it. Kol Mikaelson was a thousand years old, he had plenty of things to run from but maybe this time, he'll be the one chasing. Kol/OC
1. Prologue: Hunter Hunted

**A/N: Hello! :D So after lurking on this page for the past couple of months, I've finally decided to throw my hat into the ring and upload something I've been working on. This is just a prologue so it's a lot shorter than the average length of all other chapters (those range from 6,000 to 10,000 words). Next chapter will be modern starting with Bringing Out the Dead (3x13). Hope you guys like it :)**

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV series or any of its characters; those belong to the CW network and all other respective owners. This is purely for entertainment. _

* * *

**Prologue: Hunter Hunted**

_Slovakia, 1112_

The raucous laughter of the patrons filled the air as the sky grew ever darker, gradually approaching midnight. Yet another bout of laughter emanated from the little tavern as a pair emerged through the swinging doors, leaning against one another heavily in a hopeless bid to stay upright. The woman wrapped her fair arms around her companion's waist, giggling as he gently towed her away from the hut and into the darkest of the shadows. There was no moon on this night, the only source of illumination coming from the candles in the homes of whoever was still awake and of course, the tavern. As they moved, the laughter gradually got further and further away until they could not hear it anymore. The man acted, pinning his partner against the wall of a nearby home. He was not worried about being heard; he knew for a fact that the house was abandoned and few chose to settle in this part of town. He leaned forward toward the woman as she continued to giggle psychotically, oblivious to the impending danger. He stared into her eyes, glazed over and unfocused from having far too much to drink.

"Behave."

The girl abruptly stopped laughing, going still as she leaned against the wall, closing her eyes. The man leaned in, moving closer and closer to her exposed jugular as he breathed in her scent. His lips parted, his warm breath lingering over her skin as the hairs stood on end. But she did not move. The man put his lips to her neck as he let the blood lust take over, his eyes growing charcoal black as fangs grew from his canines, preparing to sink into the soft skin. Then, a new scent hit him, drawing him in as sharks to blood. He abruptly pulled away, the meal before him suddenly seeming bland as compared to what was now offered to him. He looked into the woman's eyes again. Perhaps he would have her later as a snack.

"Stay here until I return to you. You are not to speak with anyone."

The girl giggled again and grinned at him before sliding down the wall and sitting on the cold earth, hiccupping.

He ran a hand through his jet black hair before starting after his new found prey, following the enticing scent. It eventually led him to a lady in her early twenties, wrapped snugly in furs, her long wavy blonde hair spread out behind her and her back turned to him. His eyes narrowed as his fangs grew once more without his control. He will not be playing with this one; he would not be able to stop himself when he started. He quickly approached her but before he got close enough to attack, the girl moved, disappearing into the space between two abandoned houses. The man grinned; perhaps he would be getting a little fun after all. He followed after her but when he turned the corner, the girl had disappeared. He growled; the need to feed overwhelming all rational thought. He charged down the small space, reaching the end in seconds. Confused, he turned only to find himself at a dead end.

"Hello. Looking for someone?"

The man whipped around, eyes going black before charging toward the source of the voice with his enhanced speed, his hands raised to grab his prey. But instead of meeting flesh and bone, his fingers caught a net. The rope seared his skin, burning straight to the flesh as he stumbled backwards. He screamed, holding his hands out as he tried to pull the net off of him. It charred the flesh, peeling the skin the more he struggled. The cackle of a whip tore through the quiet of the night seconds before the man felt a fiery pain snake around his ankle. The whip tightened and then with one hard tug, the man was pulled off his feet, collapsing hard onto the dirt path. Pain shot up his spine as he continued to try to get the rope off of him, already feeling blisters forming upon the abused skin. The man rolled, unintentionally tangling the rope even more around himself, screaming in pain as the vervain soaked through his clothes and burned his skin. The blonde smirked, walking up to her prey nonchalantly as she reached a hand into her coat.

"Bloodsucker."

With that, she drove a wooden stake straight through the vampire's heart.

* * *

**What do you think? :)**


	2. Chapter 1: The Originals

**A/N: Hello :) This is the first chapter. From here on, I'll be updating every one to two weeks but since the prologue was pretty short, I decided to put this up now :) These next ten chapters (Part I) will loosely follow canon from Bringing Out the Dead (3x13) to A View to a Kill (4x12) but from Kol's perspective. Also, to let you all know where I am canon-wise, I do have canon scenes (please bear with me for now) once Kol leaves town so CW, please don't sue me LOL**

**A great big thank you to all who followed this story or added to their favorites as well as to my two Guest reviews! :) You guys are awesome: **_MorningThief, Snush, ShiloCoulter, IrishUnicorns, Serenity Isihimoto aftereverything, pammiie, lilly2587, Xxkolwalaxx, Trickster707 adn insanityismyname15_

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV series or any of its characters; those belong to the CW network and all other respective owners. This is purely for entertainment._

* * *

_Part I: Chasing Shadows_

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Originals**

_Mystic Falls, September 2010_

There was a strong pull, a certain tug in his mind, dragging him out of the abyss of unconsciousness. Yet he continued to feel the weight that was on him, struggling as he drew in his very first breath of air. He twitched a finger as the weight slowly lightened, his breathing becoming easier though the air continued to burn his lungs. He successfully moved his hand, information of his surroundings slowly revealing themselves to him as the fog that had been clouding his mind for the past century finally began to clear. The first thing that assaulted his coma-muddled mind was memories. There was a forest, a final command and then there was his brother, wielding a dagger and getting ready to put him into a rather unpleasant sleep. Then, his brain seemed to finally catch up with the time and he could hear voices, see light from behind his closed eyelids, feel the cushion of whatever it was that he was lying in. He stirred, noting the presence of another individual not far from him. Finally, like a diver emerging from the deepest depths, Kol awoke, taking in a deep breath as his eyes flew open and he instinctively pulled back, reacting a century too late to the last thing he had seen before he went under – his brother driving a dagger through his heart. He blinked blearily, confused, before pushing himself up from the box – a coffin to be exact – and executed a lithe swing over the side, his feet touching ground for the first time in a hundred years.

Elijah stood not too far from him, turning slightly to acknowledge his brother's waking and nodding at a blood bag on a table, before returning his attention to yet another member of their daggered family. Kol approached the table rather cautiously and picked up the offering, vertigo descending upon him before he cautiously pulled the cap off, draining it off its contents. Rebekah twitched in her coffin, her hands balling themselves into fists before she jerked violently and she too awoke from her slumber. Laying a short distance away from the trio, Finn stirred, bumping into the walls of his box almost comically before he sat up, his hands going up to cradle his throbbing head. As the family gathered around their oldest brother, handing out blood bags among themselves, Elijah motioned to them, pointing to the world outside where there was the distinct sound of people talking, silencing whatever they were just about to say. One voice in particular stood out like a sore thumb. After all, for most of them, it was the last voice they had heard in quite a long while. Kol's eyes narrowed before he noted the presence of another individual in their midst.

The man leaned casually against the wooden doorway, his arms crossed in front of him and a smirk playing on his lips. He sported a head of slick, black hair and bright blue eyes with a gaze that was almost piercing. He was toned, fit and looked fairly agile though Kol figured he could still best him on his worst day. It was pretty obvious to the Original that he was a vampire though – no one else could have watched three people sit up from their coffins and still look so calm. Kol noted the slower heartbeat and breathing rate as well, solidifying his theory. Elijah calmly walked up to the man, tapping him on the shoulder as they headed outside, a pretty blonde lady who looked to be in her early twenties obediently following after them, a silver platter balanced on her hand. Outside, Kol listened with slight bemusement at the ongoing conversation before making his own way out of the petite room as if on cue.

He was unfamiliar with his surroundings but did not let his discomfort show as he followed the voices, turning the corner to come face to face with the Original hybrid himself. His brother's face immediately fell, pure and utter horror clouding his features.

"Kol."

The younger Original could not help the smirk that rose on his lips and tilted his head slightly to one side, his eyes narrowing from a century of pent up rage and vengeance.

"Long time, brother."

Much to his amusement, Klaus began to back away from him before Finn decided to intercede, coming up behind him in half a heartbeat, dagger in hand.

"Finn, don't!"

His meaningless warning goes unheeded as the Original sent the blade through his brother's hand. Klaus abruptly attempts to flee, only to be interrupted by a seething Rebekah. She had obtained a dagger of her own sometime during her journey to the only other exit of the room and promptly drove it into the startled hybrid.

"This is for our mother," she hissed.

Klaus stumbled backwards and straight into Kol who seized the opportunity to restrain the hybrid, using more force than was strictly necessary. He glared at his brother though he knew he could not see as Elijah addressed the two outsiders in the room.

"You're free to go. This is family business."

The two nodded, backing away cautiously before disappearing out the door. _Vampires_, just as Kol had suspected. The rest of the family began to converge around the two of them, all of them, perhaps with the exception of Elijah who seldom showed any emotion anyway, looking borderline murderous. Kol grinned: _this was going to be fun._

* * *

Niklaus leaned against the squat coffee table obediently, either his body or his mind too shell-shocked to attempt retaliation or escape. Kol watched with a great deal of sadistic pleasure, playing with a glass of wine he had gotten himself, as Rebekah began her tirade, throwing a porcelain vase straight into a painting where it shattered into a thousand little pieces.

"I wanted it to be for all of us. A place we could all call home. A place we could all be a family. None of us would ever have to be alone again." Klaus whispered under his breath, his voice lacking his usual arrogance as Kol tried his best to hold back a snicker. He was angry actually, _very_ angry, and was trying his hardest not to lunge at his older brother and rip his throat out just for the ten seconds of satisfaction it would give him.

Elijah stepped forward, straightening his suit.

"Well you're right, none of us will be."

"You're staying behind," Finn chimed, his voice not entirely covering the anger that Kol had no doubt was boiling inside. He had no idea exactly how long _that_ particular sibling of his had been daggered but it must be pretty bad considering he was having trouble recalling the last memory he had of his second eldest brother.

Rebekah, turning away from the painting and approaching the hybrid, then resumed her snarky commentary.

"We're leaving you, Nik. Right after I kill that doppelganger wench, then you will be alone, always and forever."

Kol rolled his eyes; their sister truly was the sharpest with her words. But then again, she _did_ spend a great part of her life with Elijah and Nik. Whatever reason it was that the hybrid had decided to dagger her and shove her in a box must not have been justifiable enough for her. There was something about the way that Klaus held himself now that made him look almost defeated to Kol, even as he exchanged remarks with Elijah. Kol tuned it all out, choosing instead to stare at his drink, uninterested in their squabbling. He had only been daggered once before and that had lasted a grand total of about three hours. The experience now was hence rather disorientating for him and he began to wonder about exactly how much he had missed. Memories, or rather their specifics, were slowly trickling back to him and he was being bombarded with an odd cocktail of emotions ranging from morose to outrage. Then, the distinct sound of footsteps pulled him out of his reverie and the Original looked up just in time to see the door slowly swing open, a familiar and yet foreign figure coming through to join them. For a moment, all five of them simply stood rooted to their spots, taken aback. Rebekah was the first to react.

"Mother?"

The Original witch walked forward, ignoring her daughter's comment and heading straight for Klaus as the entire family lapsed into silence. If the hybrid had looked defeated before, he might as well have begun digging himself a hole to jump into now.

"Look at me! Do you know why I'm here?"

Their mother, stern as always, looked Nik in the eye as the latter attempted to avoid her gaze.

"You're here to kill me," he whispered, still avoiding her gaze.

"Niklaus, you are my son and I am here to forgive you. I want us to be a family again," the witch declared before straightening and looking at each and every one of them. Indeed, their family would be _one_ again.

* * *

Kol lay still on the bed, staring blankly at the room that he had declared his own after their little family feud the night before. It was only after he had approached Elijah afterwards to ask for the date that he had known the true length of his slumber. A century was a long time, even to an Original vampire and Kol did not particularly appreciate his brother taking the liberty to shove him in a box. He thought back to the time before. It all seemed cloudy to him now, almost surreal; something that had happened but from a different time, a different life. But even then, one does not actually have a sense of time when daggered. It was not unlike sleep, where you either get a short moment of darkness before you awoke or when you get random flickers or live a story that had no plot. He had made a promise once, given his word, but he now did not know how to live up to it. A hundred years was a lot of time and he knew exactly how much things could change. For all he knew, the people he had known then were dead. Kol sighed. He knew it was stupid. In retrospect, it had been very unlike him to have allowed any of those things to happen, even more so that he was the one who started it.

Yet he missed that time. Nik, Bekah and Elijah had had one another "_always and forever"_, and would have one another in time to come. Finn never gave much care or thought, he was always so detached from them, laughing too late when a joke was shared and downright refusing to join them during hunts. But Kol knew he detested his vampirism and in that, he had died somewhat after he had made his first kill. But then again, Sage had saved him and while they may be separated at the moment, nothing would be stopping _Sage_ from tracking down her long lost lover. Kol on the other hand, was playing an entirely different ball game. Now he wished he had chosen his words more carefully.

The vampire was pulled out of his brooding by sharp rapping on his door, jerking upright from where he had been sprawled on the large bed, staring up at the plain ceiling. He let his walls drop back down even as he walked over to greet his visitor – Rebekah by the sound of it. One had to have reservations, even around family.

He opened a crack in the door, peering outside and true to his suspicion, his younger sister stood on the other side, her eyes narrowed to slits with a certain flame kindling behind them, and her arms crossed over her chest. She was holding something loosely in her right hand, which she flashed in Kol's face the moment he acknowledged her presence.

"What? Did Elijah give you another lecture about touching the precious doppelganger? Or has word finally reached Nik?"

Rebekah's little stunt had become common knowledge among the Originals now and honestly, while Kol had not found it surprising in any way at all that the blonde would hunt down the person who daggered her, he had to admit that his brothers' over protectiveness of the human was fairly amusing. Perhaps he would pull his own stunt later if he got in the mood.

"No, they can't do anything to stop me from going after that wench," Rebekah rolled her eyes as if it were the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard before waving the single slip of paper in her brother's face again.

"Look at this!"

Kol raised an eyebrow before frowning and taking the paper from her hands, pinching it between his thumb and index finger as if it were cursed. It took him less than a second to scan through the contents.

"A ball?! When were we having a ball?! If this is some elaborate prank of yours to—"

Rebekah hissed under her breath, baring her teeth.

"Do you honestly believe that I would be in the mood to go to a dance and invite that wretch?"

Kol blinked before he burst out laughing. One day out of his coffin and the family had already stirred up enough drama to propel them through a lifetime.

"I don't see what is so amusing. Practically the entire town has been invited!"

"Oh come on, sister. It will be lovely. Besides, haven't you always had the uncontrollable desire to attend dances since… forever?"

Rebekah gasped at him, appalled.

"How can _you_ be accepting of this?"

Kol laughed again before grabbing his sister's hand and dragging her along, his mind relieved by the convenient distraction presented before him.

"Oh don't be such a spoilsport, Bekah! Let's go get you something pretty to wear."

Rebekah's jaw, if even possible, dropped lower as she struggled to find a suitable response to her brother's outburst, eventually coming up empty.

* * *

The siblings had ultimately managed to drag Finn into the mix after they had received notice that it had been their mother who had expressed the desire to organise the event. Rebekah's wrath had visibly quieted after that and after spending an entire afternoon with an oddly enthusiastic Kol, she could not help the good mood that threatened to rise. Her brothers had even tagged along, though Finn was anything but enthusiastic, when she went by to the Grill to invite herself a date, with Kol expressing his utmost support for her after the short squabble between his sister, Caroline and Elena, appearing awfully pleased for someone who had not even met the two teenagers. And with that, the trio were now settled in one of the rooms in Niklaus' grand estate, enlisting the help of a couple of compelled store owners while they got ready. Their eldest brother had also joined them halfway through, and was scrutinizing various pairs of dress shoes with the intensity of a hawk, much to his siblings' amusement.

Kol stood before a full-length mirror, adjusting the collar of his suit and grinning at his sister through his reflection.

"Rebekah? Tell me how handsome I am."

The Original looked up when she was addressed and smirked at her brother, a mischievous glint in her bright blue eyes.

"Ah Kol, you know I can't be compelled."

She shook her head, feigning disappointment as even Finn could not help the grin that was now spread across his face. As the siblings chuckled at their little joke, Klaus abruptly stormed into the room, dousing cold water over the good mood.

"You went after Elena? What is wrong with you?"

Rebekah heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes, ignoring her brother's question.

"Here we go."

The hybrid's rage was clearly not intending to be extinguished any time soon though.

"Do you want another dagger in your heart?"

Kol paused, a sudden surge of protectiveness over his younger sister coming over him. They may be vampires, Originals even, but their brother had no right to put them down as and when he liked it. Kol narrowed his eyes, his good mood having had thrown itself out the window.

"Again with the dagger threats? Don't you have any other tricks?"

Klaus clearly did not pick up on his brother's stewing rage because he dismissed him immediately.

"Oh, go back to staring at yourself."

Kol, if he had been irritated before, was now quickly becoming furious. It was another one of the quirks of being a vampire. He could not help himself.

"And who are you, my father?"

The comment had been sharp and Kol knew it. If there was anyone on the planet that Klaus detested the most, it would have been Mikael. The hybrid immediately rose up to the challenge though it was evident that he was attempting to cap his rage.

"No, Kol, but you're in my house."

"Then perhaps we should go outside."

The two brothers were now facing each other straight on, eyes narrowed and getting ready to lunge at each other at any given moment. The tension had grown thick enough to cut through with a knife before it was defused by the authoritative voice of none other than the Original witch.

"Enough! Niklaus… come."

The hybrid continued glaring at his younger brother but eventually succumbed and stormed out of the room with their mother nonetheless. Kol growled, shoving his compelled stylist aside and plopping down on the couch, a short distance away from his sister. Finn watched on, contemplating whether or not he should say something before apparently deciding against it and taking his leave from the suddenly tense room with Elijah. Rebekah edged towards her fuming brother, nudging his shoulder lightly.

"Well Kol, would it make you feel better if I told you that you look decently charming in that suit?"

The older vampire grinned, leaning over to his sister and chuckling under his breath.

"I don't understand what you mean Bekah. Care to repeat yourself?"

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at him, but the playful glint remained.

"Don't push your luck, brother. That's just about as much as you will get."

Kol reached over and attempted to ruffle her hair, which rewarded him with a quick whack to the head as Rebekah sped to the other side of the room, her hands raised defensively in front of her.

"Oh no, you are _not_ touching my hair. That took me two hours!"

Kol rose from his spot on the couch, smiling innocently before slowly walking forward.

"Well, that has yet to be determined."

With that established, he sped over towards her the same second she fled from the room. Kol laughed, giving chase as his little sister's laughter echoed through the house.

* * *

The game had ended the moment Esther walked out of her room, one disapproving look stopping the siblings in their tracks. After that, guests started flitting in and the family dispersed to greet them. Eventually, Kol gave up on his attempt to memorise the names and faces and simply greeted whoever's path he happened to cross. The arrival of the famous – or rather, infamous – Salvatore brothers drew his attention as his curiosity peaked. He had seen them last night during their rather unfortunate family reunion. The older of the two brothers – or who Kol assumed was older anyway – made his way towards the town's mayor as Kol slipped through the crowd easily, having had acquired a new target. He listened unashamedly to their conversation before stepping forward to introduce himself.

"Mayor Lockwood. We haven't formally met. Kol Mikaelson. I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it."

He smiled charmingly at the woman before kissing the back of her hand out of habit. The Salvatore brother piped up, introducing himself.

"Damon Salvatore. Have we met?"

Kol turned to look at the man, fairly put out with the interruption. He made little effort in searching his foggy memory but could not resist the temptation of being just a little sarcastic.

"I've met a lot of people. And you don't particularly stand out."

Kol paused, moving away temptingly slowly whilst waiting for a retort and feeling fairly pleased with himself when the younger vampire's eyes narrowed by just the slightest bit. The Original was rather bored to be honest; he would not mind getting into a little fight with the man just for the sake of it. But before Kol could pour more fuel on what he had hoped was going to be the start of an interesting argument, a new presence joined the growing crowd, pulling Damon's attention away from him. Kol looked over, his eyes widening. _Tatia?_ The newcomer was beautiful; a perfect replica of the woman who had stolen the hearts of two of his older brothers. She carried the signature brown eyes and hair of the Petrova line, donned in a stunning strapless ball gown that flowed to her ankles. It hugged her figure nicely. He could tell how she had apparently started a sibling rivalry between the Salvatores; like all her ancestors before her, she was beautiful. His mind caught up to the time as a new name clicked onto the figure before him. _Elena Gilbert._ Kol's lips quirked up by just the slightest bit. While he would not deny that the Petrova doppelgangers were indeed a sight to behold, he doubted that he would ever understand why there was always so much commotion around them.

Damon moved away from him and Kol deflated. He had hoped that the Salvatore brother would have provided some sort of entertainment through this horrid ball. He heaved a sigh before turning and wandering aimlessly around the house, listening in to the conversation between the Salvatore brothers and the mysterious Elena Gilbert, catching up on the most recent concerns of the residents. Apparently, his family was fairly high up on that list. Somewhere at some other part of the house, Nik had apparently found himself a date but Kol was hardly interested in that. He notices Finn speaking to the doppelganger a beat too late before his chain of thoughts was interrupted by Elijah addressing the crowd. Kol immediately ascended the grand staircase, taking his spot and keeping track of all the important guests out of the corner of his eye. Elijah started speaking about things that he was sure no one was particularly interested in as he noted their mother's entry into the common area.

"Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom." Elijah announced, motioning to the guests as they made their way to the adjacent room.

Kol descended the steps slowly, taking note of a lonely brunette who was absentmindedly following the crowd. He rolled his eyes. Oh how he _hated_ these events. He easily caught her arm from behind as she jumped slightly, turning to look at him. It took one smirk from the Original before she was smitten and was following him blindly. Kol noted her increased heartbeat and breathing, suddenly feeling the need to feed. It had been too long. He pushed it down though; he would deal with it later. He cast one curious look over the rest of the dance floor noting all the different dance partners before turning to his own.

The music began.

Kol moved his partner around easily, more interested in the ongoing conversations of his siblings. The brunette either did not notice his distraction or did not care. It did not bother him though. They twirled around with the music, the steps coming easily to the Original, neither of them daring or bothering – in Kol's case – to attempt to start a conversation. When the music ended, he politely kissed the back of the lady's hand, always the gentleman. He was just about to leave when she finally decided to speak up. He held a hand out to stop her, catching her gaze easily.

"For both our sakes darling, it would be best for you to forget that you ever met me."

The brunette stared at him blankly before blinking, a new gap forming in her memory. She looked around her, confused as to how she had ended up in the ballroom but Kol was already gone.

* * *

"Where's your date?"

Kol piped up as he came up to his younger sister, carefully keeping a smile in place as he watched the crowd.

"Flirting with his ex."

"You've changed, Bekah. You know, settling for mortals is the first sign of weakness."

A miniscule part of Kol's brain was yelling at him but he squashed it down. Rebekah did not need to know anything.

"I'm not settling. I brought him here to kill him. He's Elena's friend. If he dies she suffers. But I've already been scolded once so I was hoping you'd help your baby sister out."

Kol's internal argument silenced as he clung onto the new hope that there _was_ going to be something worthy of his time after all.

"And spit right in the face of mother's rules?"

The older Original paused for a short moment, playing it out before smirking.

"I'm in."

Rebekah smiled at her brother appreciatively, she had always enjoyed spending time with him. After a grin was shared between them, she disappeared into the crowd, looking for the blonde quarterback. Kol on the other hand continued to watch the guests, noting the sudden absence of the doppelganger. He looked around, furrowing his brows as he scanned through the crowd. The older Salvatore was missing as well. Kol narrowed his eyes; either the two of them had happily decided to take off with one another or something was not right. Kol started on his scavenger hunt, looking for the missing duo. He was not doing a good job though; he was unfamiliar with either of their scents and there were far too many people scattered around the grounds for him to search thoroughly or apply a more _efficient_ method to hunt down the pair. Instead, he spied Rebekah by the foyer and headed in her direction, dismissing his prior worry.

"I'm itching to kill something. What are we waiting for?"

"The mayor cornered me. Give me fifteen minutes to lure Matt outside."

Kol frowned; he was _not_ spending another fifteen minutes of his life wandering around aimlessly in his own party.

"Outside? What's wrong with right here on the stairs? Make a spectacle of it."

Rebekah rolled her eyes, staring at her brother with an exasperated look on her face.

"You sound like an idiot, Kol. Mother would kill you if you ruined her party. See you outside."

Kol sighed, as if he were disappointed with her rejection before giving her a head start and slowly following after behind her. He had no idea why he was so keen in killing the quarterback. He had never even met him, let alone had had enough of an impression to have a good enough excuse to murder – even by his standards. In fact, he was fairly confident that if he really wanted a meal, all he would have to do was to head outside – or entice someone outside – and he would get it. And that option would have been far easier than what was now presented to him. He headed to the makeshift parking lot anyway, easily spotting the two blondes.

He watched and listened in to the pair's conversation, looked on quietly as the boy put his jacket over his sister's shoulders and narrowed his eyes when his sister blatantly changed her mind, beckoning the blonde back inside where she knew, or rather, _thought_ Kol would not attack. The Original was not happy and unhappiness for a vampire had an odd tendency to escalate, quickly. His sister was a fool; the mere idea of their kind even _liking_ a human was misguided. And he would prove it. He followed the pair as they headed back into the house, glancing briefly to the side and noting the reappearance of the doppelganger. Kol stalked forward, focused on his target. Maybe he _would_ get a chance to make a scene after all. All he needed was for Rebekah to get just a little further, then he would make his move. To hell with his mother and her damned party. Kol let his hunger overtake him, blood surging to his eyes and his fangs just beginning to emerge.

Then, he felt a hand clasp his shoulder.

Kol turned away from his prey, his appearance returning to normal in less than a second even as he turned and came face to face with Finn. The older Original looked at him questioningly, but there was no emotion in his eyes.

"Is something the matter, brother?" Kol asked, hiding his irritation easily. Finn narrowed his eyes at him, as if he were considering something before apparently letting it go.

"I trust you are having fun?"

Kol snickered, as if it were the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard.

"Ah Finn, you know I never enjoyed these formal gatherings. But it appears that the women in our family have quite the fetish for it. What to do, what to do…"

Kol let his statement hang as Finn cracked a smile. Once again, it did not reach his eyes but Kol was not concerned – it hardly ever did anymore. Their brief conversation was interrupted by Esther clinking her crystal wine glass, calling for attention. The room quieted down as everyone turned to face her.

"Good evening, ladies and gentleman. Waiters are coming around with champagne. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass." Both Finn and Kol turned to the blonde waitress, who was balancing a platter in her hands, that had approached them, each picking up a glass as Esther continued, "It provides me with no greater joy then to see my family back together as _one_. I'd like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers!"

Esther raised her glass to the crowd, a smile on her face as everyone rose their own, stepping up to the toast. One by one, the Mikaelson siblings drank. After some light chatter across the crowd, the guests began to disperse again. Rebekah was finally leaving Matt and Kol was overwhelmed with the urge to give chase to the now unprotected human.

"Are you alright, Kol?"

Kol turned back to his brother, trying to hold back the urge to break the conversation and go after Matt.

"Of course I am."

"You appear to be quite… unsettled."

Kol rolled his eyes, attempting to stem the bouncing on his feet that he was starting to get into.

"Now brother, when have you ever seen me 'settled'?"

Finn grinned slightly before turning to face their mother who was still on the stairs, watching them pensively. He then turned back to Kol.

"Somewhere you need to be?"

Finn smirked before swiftly excusing himself and heading upstairs. Finally left to himself, Kol set out on his hunt but failed to find Matt. Instead, once again, he spotted his sister.

"There you are. I was waiting outside for you. Where's Matt?"

Kol knew he did not need to ask the question, it was fairly obvious on its own.

"About that, I, uh—I changed my mind. I don't want to ruin mother's night."

Kol did not miss the fact that she had not answered his question.

"Don't tell me you like this boy. What did he do? Give you five seconds of his attention?" Kol sighed, exasperated. "Don't be so predictable Rebekah."

"You don't have to be rude about it. Just leave him be, okay?"

Rebekah was seething now but maybe because some part of her _really_ did not want to ruin the party, she chose to walk away. Kol watched her, anger re-emerging. He really was on an emotional roller-coaster today.

"As you wish, sister."

Kol turned, heading out with renewed determination. The house was only so big. The quarterback could not hide forever.

* * *

As expected, it really did not take long for the Original to track down his prey. He had apparently headed upstairs, for what Kol was not sure but it was not the point and he could not be bothered to find out. With that, he called out to the blonde from his perch on the balcony, a smirk on his face. Matt turned instinctively but Kol was already gone. He watched his prey wander about on the terrace, looking as if he was slowly convincing himself that he had imagined the voice. Kol waited until the blonde turned to leave before returning to his original position. With his experience, he hardly made a sound.

"Good evening. You're Rebekah's friend, we haven't met."

Kol let a smirk play on his lips as he watched the human start before approaching him tentatively. Kol held out a hand, prompting him to take it. He did.

"Matt Donovan"

"Kol Mikaelson."

With the introductions over, Kol promptly began to apply force into the handshake, his expression hardly changing even as the teenager began shouting, going onto his knees. If anything, he appeared more pleased.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!"

The new arrival was promptly ignored as Kol continued in his quest to break the sportsman's hand.

"Easy on the hand, guy's a quarterback."

Kol finally looked up at Damon, renewed rage flooding him. _Good_, he had wanted a fight anyway. Damon looked like he was not in that good of a mood as well as his eyes turned blood-red for the shortest of moments before he lunged and sent Kol flying off the balcony. The Original hit the ground with a loud thud, his vision swimming for just a moment. Kol was all ready for a fight but the moment the pain surged through him, he lost the will. It was not that he was injured – it hardly did anything at all – but that the pain was _relief_, a physical manifestation of what he felt inside. He lay on the ground, watching Damon jump off the ledge after him. Kol almost laughed, the vampire must have truly thought that he could beat him. Damon was a ball of pent up rage and frustration as he repeatedly sent hits at Kol's face. The latter did not put up that much a fight, revelling in the pain. Then somewhere between the beatings, when Kol's vision was hitting triple, Damon's hand clamped down on his neck, crushing it. Kol huffed a short cough before a sharp jolt of pain shot through him sending him into darkness. The last thing he heard was a voice, smooth and melodious, fabricated by the depths of his sub-conscious.

_"Kol."_


	3. Chapter 2: Family Above All

**A/N: Hello! :D I initially intended to update a little sooner but was caught up with some things the last couple of days. But anyways, here's the next chapter :) A great thank you to all who are reading this story, followed or put it on their favorites, as well as to my reviewer:**_ SweetSnow01, Penn Langley, nuksti, sweetterthnu, NicZ99, TwistedMidnight, emily2500 and livvixxx._ **You guys are awesome :) Quick note, part of this chapter was inspired by _"What is a Google?" _by **_DammitimmaD_**. If you haven't read it, you totally should. It's awesome :)****  
**

___Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV series or any of its characters; those belong to the CW network and all other respective owners. This is purely for entertainment._

* * *

_Last time:_

_Damon was a ball of pent up rage and frustration as he repeatedly sent hits at Kol's face. The latter did not put up that much a fight, revelling in the pain. Then somewhere between the beatings, when Kol's vision was hitting triple, Damon's hand clamped down on his neck, crushing it. Kol huffed a short cough before a sharp jolt of pain shot through him sending him into darkness. The last thing he heard was a voice, smooth and melodious, fabricated by the depths of his sub-conscious._

_"Kol."_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Family Above All**

_It was raining, the droplets of water hitting the muddy ground with loud splats before soaking into the earth, stained brown. He gripped her arm with just a little less force than what would have broken the bone and ran with everything he had. It was not working out too well for either of them though; he could already hear his brother, chasing them with all the persistence of a hunting dog. Realization came to him easily; Nik would not let them go without a fight and Kol could do the math – of the two of them, he was a lot harder to kill. He pulled them to an abrupt stop, using whatever time they had bought from the head start and slurred over his words. His voice faded out as the rain got louder, thundering against his ears and pounding in his head until it was all he could hear. The scene was fading out as ripples formed, fogging his vision. _

_"Let me go."_

_Her voice was loud in his head, even against the thunder and rain. Kol blinked and then she was gone and all that was left was his brother, a silver dagger in hand._

Kol jerked awake, blinking rapidly as he sat up, ramrod straight on the plush bed. He turned to face the large window seconds before lightning sliced through the pitch black sky, bringing just the smallest wince from the Original. That explained the soundtrack. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he stretched his neck this way and that, trying to ease the stiffness that had descended upon it. So maybe letting Damon snap his neck was not such a bright idea after all. The rain was unbearably loud to him, especially after all these years. He thought he might just have forgotten exactly how it sounded like. The voice from the dream echoed in his head, etching itself into the contours of his mind. _"Let me go"_. Was that what he should do then? Was this some sort of divine sign from whatever greater power there was as to what he should do now? He sighed, knowing that if the rain did not keep him up, his dream would. Resigned to his sleepless fate, Kol swung his legs off the bed and onto the ground. He was getting hungry anyway.

* * *

Kol watched impatiently, glancing at his older brother who was settled comfortably on the couch, sketching as usual. The younger of the two shook his head mockingly at the sight; some things never changed. He narrowed his eyes at his brother when he finally looked up.

"Before I was daggered—"

Before Kol could complete his sentence, Nik abruptly turned, watching as their sister walked in, still wearing the green dress from the day before. Kol immediately changed the topic – or what was growing into a topic anyway – and jumped up to his feet from where he had been sitting on the steps, effectively blocking her way.

"Well, well, well, there's our girl."

"Get out of my way Kol."

The Original was unfazed and easily sidestepped to stop Rebekah from getting past him.

"Out all night. What a scandal! I trust you did better than that commoner," Kol cocked his head to one side to increase the effect, "Matt was it?"

"If you don't shut your mouth, the next thing to come out of it will be your teeth."

Nik, who had remained neutrally silent the whole time, could not help the grin, pausing even as he added shading to the picture. Rebekah was venomous now.

"Don't start, Nik."

"I didn't say anything."

Klaus looked up from his work, giving her an innocent shrug. Kol, having had tired of the little game, walked nonchalantly over to the couch and stared at it contemplatively.

"I'm bored," the Original declared before turning around and throwing himself onto the soft cushion, his legs hanging over the side, "Our sister is a strumpet, but at least she's having fun. I need entertainment."

Kol ignored the daggers said sister was staring at him and turned his gaze upon the hybrid instead, shaking his head in self-pity. Niklaus, who had attempted to return his attention to his drawing, looked up once more and shrugged.

"What are you waiting for? Go on, have at it."

Kol swung around so he was properly seated now, looking up at his older brother with what could only be described as puppy-dog eyes.

"It's not fun to go alone. Join me, Nik!"

Kol did not miss the hesitance in the hybrid's eyes. He had decided while out getting a late supper the night before that he would stop harping on it. There was little to no chance that he would be able to do anything about what has happened anytime soon and beating himself up – and practically everyone else around him while he was at it – about it was not going to do anyone any good. He would find a way to fix things eventually but till then, he had to put it behind him. He could not help one last quip though, especially with his brother rejecting him. The hybrid owed him.

"It's the least you could do after sticking a dagger in my heart."

Klaus finally relented, heaving a sigh and setting his materials aside.

"Okay, why not? I didn't have nearly enough to drink last night, what with you trying to murder Rebekah's date."

Niklaus slowly rose from his spot, heading straight for the door as Kol followed after him. A still-fuming Rebekah, who had apparently not forgiven her brother for his earlier remark, could not help starting up again.

"Yes, please go, this house has enough men rolling around in it!"

Less than two seconds later though, her comment backfired.

"Just like you, Bekah!"

Kol grinned mischievously and pointed a chiding finger at her even as he backed away towards the door. The Original sister was enraged now, grabbing her shoe in the blink of an eye and launching it at him. Kol did not bother attempting to catch the projectile, choosing instead to cover his head with his arm playfully and ducked out the door. Rebekah was not appeased. Kol caught her last comment before he took off after his brother.

"Good riddance, both of you!"

The Original chuckled, thoroughly amused by his accomplishment. He easily caught up to Niklaus, tapping him on the shoulder as he came up beside him. His older brother threw an arm over his shoulder, grinning. Kol was about to say something before Klaus beat him to the punch. So he let it go.

"So you've gotten me out. Now then, where to?"

"I've been in a box for the last hundred years Nik; I believe you should be responsible for the tour."

Klaus snickered, pulling his brother along.

"Very well then."

He pat his brother twice on the shoulder before letting go and smirking at him.

"Think you can keep up?"

Kol smirked, rolling his eyes at him. With that established, the two took off running into the woods.

* * *

The warm liquid flowed smoothly down his throat, the mini adrenaline rush surging through him. The exhilaration, though familiar, was something one never got used to. It was pleasure, satisfaction, joy and excitement, all rolled into one. Kol sighed when he pulled the last drop from the punctures on the brunette's neck, releasing the limb body and letting it slide to the ground. There really never was enough. He turned to find his brother staring at him, his own meal sprawled on the earth in a mangled mess.

"So you've shown me the town landmarks – which are just a school, a few tunnels and a mildly interesting dungeon might I add –, introduced me to the local cuisine and gotten me lunch. Now, where to?"

Niklaus appeared to contemplate something for a moment before looking back over at his brother.

"How would you like a drink?"

Kol frowned, looking down at his dead meal pointedly. The hybrid's lips quirked slightly.

"Not that."

Kol looked up, realization dawning on him.

"Oh. Oh, alright then."

Klaus chuckled lightly to himself before leaning over and grabbing what was left of his meal, swinging her onto his shoulder.

"But first of all, I believe we should clean up after ourselves? We wouldn't want anymore drained bodies lying around with that killer on the loose."

Kol snickered, easily lifting his own kill up and over his shoulder.

"So, lake, burn, bury or just far, far away?"

Klaus seemed to think for a moment before heading off in a direction.

"Lake. This town has an awful record of the buried _not_ being left buried."

Kol shrugged, starting after him. A moment of silence passed before he spoke up again.

"Just like old times, brother?"

Klaus grinned, a rare wave of nostalgia coming over him. They did indeed go out hunting together often in the past. Right after they had first turned, Elijah and Finn were more reserved than the two of them, often refusing to feed until they absolutely had to. Rebekah was well, Rebekah. But these two on the other hand, had taken to vampirism somewhat easily. While the first few kills were hard, you could hardly win in a fight against your instincts and unfortunately, a vampire's greatest instinct was to kill. In a way, the two of them truly were similar. Klaus let the memories fade off after a short moment, pulling himself back to reality with a smile on his face.

"Just like old times."

* * *

"Mystic Grill: The one and only place where rebelling adolescents can go to pretend that they're past eighteen, and home of the only beer in Mystic Falls," Klaus announced, spreading his hands out demonstratively.

Kol snickered, looking the establishment up and down. He had been there the day before whilst following Rebekah out around. He turned back to his brother when he noticed him pull a peculiar black box out of his back pocket. He proceeded to swipe his finger across the surface and frown at whatever it was that greeted him.

"Our big brother appears to be getting paranoid. He seems to have found a bowl of burnt sage in our mother's room."

Kol frowned, still fixated on how his brothers were apparently communicating through a box. Burning sage was familiar to him though; it was a basic spell for witches and it came to him easily.

"Sage is an herb to prevent one from being overheard. What's the big deal? The bigger question is how are you talking to Elijah through a box?"

Nik blinked at him blankly for a moment before realization hit him.

"Ah, okay. Now you know about telephones yes?"

Kol glared at him as if his brother were regarding him as a fool and rolled his eyes.

"Yes Nik. Don't you remember when you daggered me?" he quipped.

Klaus ignored the jab and continued with his explanation.

"Well, there's the telephone-phone which you are acquainted with and this is the mobile phone."

"Mobile?"

"Yes, you can take it wherever you go."

"But you said Elijah told you about the sage but I don't recall him calling you."

Kol furrowed his brows in confusion, looking far more innocent than he truly was. Klaus held back a sigh, knowing that he would now have to delve into text messaging. This was not going to be easy. Taking a deep breath, he called up all the patience he had and started explaining.

"He texted me. Texting is something like... sending letters if you will," Klaus grinned slightly at his genius, "You can have a conversation by sending short messages to one another."

Kol's frown grew deeper, seemingly becoming frustrated by exactly how much he did not know.

"But why not just call the other person?"

Klaus took a deep breath, trying to compose himself.

"Well, if you were to call someone, they would have to be free to pick up the call. Texting can be more convenient in a way."

"Oh so how long does it take for these messages to reach the other person?"

"It's almost immediate. A few seconds to a minute I suppose. It depends on the connection."

The moment the word slipped out, Klaus mentally bit himself. The next question came rather expectedly.

"Connection? How can there be a connection between two separate phones? Is there magic involved?"

Klaus squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose. Elijah should be doing this; he was the patient one. He supposed this was the universe's way to punish him for daggering his brother though; now he had to explain what he had missed. His brother on the other hand was either oblivious or ignoring his blatant frustration.

"No, it's the satellite connection, Kol. It was invented by people so there is no magic."

"And what are satellites?"

"They are these... machines that orbit the earth. They are sent into space and can allow wireless connections. So it allows you to call, text, email..." He waved a hand dismissively, suggesting that he could carry on.

Kol nodded slowly, absorbing everything before firing off his next question.

"What is this 'email'?"

"Email stands for electronic mail. It is a message sent through the internet."

Kol's eyes lit up, suddenly remembering something.

"Oh yes, I've been meaning to ask, what is an 'internet'?"

Klaus held up a hand then, stopping him. They were _not_ going into the subject of the internet. And he was fairly determined to be far, far away when whichever brave soul decided to embark on that particular quest with either of his two recently un-daggered brothers.

"Now Kol, the internet is not an object; it is a network. I'll explain later when we get home and I can get you to a computer – don't ask me what that is – and show you."

Kol grinned, shrugging as the brothers finally entered the bar. The moment the door was pushed open, the voices on the other side hit them in a wave. Both absorbed some of the louder pieces of information easily enough.

_"I can't hang out with you, I have a History paper due and is that Mr. Saltzman sitting over there?"_

_"Did you hear about the recent string of murders? Who do you think is behind them?"_

_"He broke up with me! No! I don't want to talk to him!"_

_"Your CT scans were clear. Maybe you were compelled to forget."_

The mention of compulsion caught both vampires' attention and they looked up at the source. A middle-aged male with shaggy brown hair was leaning on the bar countertop and conversing with a pretty, fair female who looked to be in her twenties. Her silky black hair flowed down to her back and the two were whispering in hushed voices.

"Wait... you think the killer's a... vampire?"

"There are no other suspects. It's the obvious conclusion."

The brothers came up to the pair. Klaus naturally turned to face them and Kol figured that they must know each other – whether that may refer to friends or enemies.

"Oh come on now. Let's not go blaming the new family in town just because you lot have got yourselves a killer at large. Don't mind us. My brother and I are just here to let off some steam. Right, Kol?"

Kol watched them like a predator would his prey, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Right."

The two moved elsewhere after a short staring match as the Originals turned to the bartender and ordered themselves a bottle of whiskey and Jack Daniel's. Kol grabbed the latter and took a huge swig, the liquid burning his throat on its way down. He sighed; you had to appreciate a drink, even if he had had better.

His brother and him were still eavesdropping on the pair easily, subconsciously finishing their drinks and ordering another. Kol eventually lost count after the seventeenth bottle and had no idea what he was drinking shortly after. Outside, day was giving way to night.

"So tell me, how has un-daggered life been for you?"

Klaus sighed, playing with the bottle.

"You are never going to let that go, are you?"

Kol grinned, squinting as he brought his glass in front of him as if he were examining it. The two had eventually decided to order one bottle at a time and share. It did not make them anymore sober though.

"It has been... boring honestly. Well I would have to admit that watching the human race invent all these fancy gadgets has been quite an interesting process, I had nothing to do!"

Kol frowned, swishing the amber liquid around in his glass as he tried to decipher its identity. A short while later, he gave up and gulped it down.

"Weren't Bekah and 'Lijah with you? The three of you and your 'always and forever'?" Kol mocked, raising his pitch by a few octaves and pouring himself another glass

"I daggered our sister when she tried to run off with the Salvatore boy. And Elijah was unhappy that I had put all of you in boxes. He thought I had killed the lot of you! As if I would do something like that! I didn't believe it when he actually bought the lie," Klaus declared, suddenly grumpy, before downing his glass.

Kol on the other hand had latched onto the first half of his statement, always open to good gossip.

"A Salvatore? Which one? Oh let me guess, it was Stefan. He looks more reserved."

Klaus laughed, nodding slowly.

"Yes but you're only half right, brother. Stefan Salvatore was a ripper, a rather famous one in fact."

"You have to be joking."

Klaus shook his head, chuckling to himself.

"Actually, no I'm not. The man's a ticking time bomb. I'm just waiting for him to explode."

"And I'm going to be there when he does."

"Yes, you will."

Klaus grinned, picking up and staring at the half empty bottle confusedly. A short pause settled on them before the door swung open, a blonde teenager, who looked mildly familiar, walking in. Kol stared at her, rather surprised when recognition hit. He pointed a finger in her direction, a smile on his face.

"I remember her from last night. She looks like a tasty little thing."

The arrival of the girl seemed to have dumped a bucket of sense onto Klaus as he suddenly became alert.

"Say another word and I'll tear out your liver," he hissed under his breath, "Caroline!"

"Interesting organ choice," Kol whispered, expertly maintaining the smirk that he was seldom seen without.

"Oh it's you."

The newcomer rolled her eyes, her tone just a little bit off from a scoff.

"Join us for a drink?" Klaus suggested, holding up his glass to her.

Kol followed suit, still smiling though _his_ bucket of sense had yet to return.

"Hmmm... I'd rather die of thirst. But thanks."

Caroline smirked, eyes narrowed before oddly heading back out the bar. Klaus sighed, sounding not that far off from a love-struck school girl.

"Isn't she stunning?"

"Well she certainly looks good walking away from you," Kol taunted, a grin on his face.

"I'll take that as a challenge," Klaus stated before promptly hopping up and going after her.

Kol chuckled as he watched his brother leave, shaking his head. Now he had to find someone else to annoy. He casually looked around and instantly spotted one half of the pair that they had bumped into before. He grinned, the alcohol butchering even the slightest semblance of memory of the not-so-friendly conversation the four of them had had just a few hours ago. He went up to her nonchalantly, grabbing a cue stick.

"A woman of your calibre ought to choose more suitable company. What's your name, love?"

The lady fired off a shot, the balls rolling and ricocheting off the sides. Kol did not comment on the headache the sound was causing on his muddled brain.

"None of your business."

The Original was undeterred, moving to get closer to her and leaning on the cue stick, smiling.

"Let's try that again, I'll start. I'm Kol."

"Why don't you get lost, Kol?" she grumbled, straightening up from where she was at the table and moving to the other side.

Kol followed slowly, the two of them circling each other.

"And why would I do that? I like pretty little things with sharp tongues."

He easily cornered her, running a hand over her smooth cheek. He could hear her heartbeat spike and it roused the predatory instinct in him.

"I'm pretty sure she told you to get lost."

A low voice sounded from behind him and Kol withdrew his hand. He had been wondering where the man had gone.

"I'm pretty sure I don't care," he hissed before turning around, absolutely ready to rip the man's heart out.

Instead, he was met with the blade of an unfortunately familiar weapon. His vision slowly clouded over as he lost the feeling in his limbs. The last thing he thought before he went under – again – was that he had better not be daggered for the next hundred years.

* * *

Rebekah stared at her prey, silently hoping that Elena would do something just so that she would have a good enough of an excuse to kill her. A sharp pain abruptly erupted in her chest as she gasped, clutching it as if it would help. She swayed slightly as her vision faded out to black and she fell to the ground. Elena froze for a moment before she took off running, praying that she had remembered the way correctly.

* * *

Elijah hissed when the screen in front of him started to blur, the words from the message melting and moulding into a mess. _"We're at the Grill"_. He gasped when pain erupted in his chest, doubling over to try and keep himself upright. The sensation was familiar; it was as if he were being daggered. Before he could ascertain what was happening, the ground rushed up at him and he fell into oblivion.

* * *

Finn watched his mother work, busying herself with the candles and salt. He had never had the luxury of time after he had been left daggered and in turn, had not had the chance to learn more about witchcraft like his brothers and sister. With every movement made by his mother though, he could feel hope seeping into him, promising relief from the pain that was vampirism. After all, he had no purpose to live. Niklaus had spitefully left the dagger in his heart after he had been attacked by Alexander. The love of his life was gone, perhaps even killed by his brother, his family hated him and he was sentenced to an eternity of bloodshed and loneliness. Death would be better; death would be sweet. And if he could bring his siblings down with him and rid the world of its plague, he would gladly do it. Most of his siblings were young and gullible, frozen with the minds of the ages at which they had been turned. He suspected Elijah would understand his pain but he was too committed to the bond he shared with Niklaus and Rebekah. He could not rely upon him. So, as the next eldest brother, he had to save them, before they eventually too come to realize the truth.

He was pulled out of his reverie by an odd prickling in his chest. Then the pain hit and he found himself unable to breathe, doubling over and clutching his torso to attempt to force air into his lungs. He heard his mother turn towards him and he wanted to shout, to call out to her for help. But before even a sound would come out, he found himself on the ground, his world fading out to black.

* * *

Klaus held a hand to his chest, feeling the pain spike and ebb. The pieces clicked together and he turned to the blonde vampire beside him, growling.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing."

The hybrid was not buying it, ignoring the incessant pain in his chest and grabbing the younger vampire's shoulders, his teeth bared.

"What did you do?!"

Caroline's eyes were wide as she tried – and failed – to pull away from him.

"I didn't do anything! Stop it!"

Klaus paused, a sudden thought occurring to him as he released Caroline. She must have been sent to distract him... leaving his younger brother alone.

"Kol."

The hybrid could not believe the amount of worry that was now rising in him. Without even a backward glance at Caroline, he disappeared, heading back across the road to the Grill.

* * *

Alaric pushed the door open, towing Kol's desiccated body with him.

"Here, grab him!" Alaric yelled when he spotted the Salvatore brothers entering the tight space; the Original was getting heavy.

"Tell your sexy doctor, 'Good work'," Damon commented, moving over and grabbing Kol's arm.

Their victory was short-lived though as Alaric was abruptly thrown into a wall by none other than Klaus. They should have figured that the dagger would not work on him. In the next motion, the blade buried in Kol was removed, said vampire already starting to stir. Stefan launched at him, fangs bared and deadly. His assault was easily thwarted though as Klaus grabbed him by the wrist and threw him into the wall. The impact shook the structure slightly as Stefan dropped to the ground, knocked out cold. Kol coughed as he regained consciousness, still lying on the ground. His brother sauntered toward the only survivor, his gaze dark and promising a slow and painful death.

"I should have killed you months ago."

"Do it. It's not going to stop Esther from killing you," Damon snapped back, unfazed.

"What did you say about my mother?"

"You didn't know I was friends with your mummy? Yeah, we have a lot in common. She hates you as much as I do."

Klaus growled, not appreciating the remark as he raised a hand against the young vampire, very much prepared to kill him just for the sake of it. He had threatened his family and he would die for that.

"Leave him! We still need them, Niklaus." Elijah's cool and authoritative voice sounded from across the small alley, staring at his younger brother in a way that seemed awfully like I-told-you-so.

His brother's appearance pulled Klaus out of his motion, choosing information over the ten seconds of satisfaction Damon Salvatore's death would bring him.

"What did mother do? What did she do, Elijah?"

The older Original ignored his brother's question, pulling out his phone and slowly walking towards the cornered Damon.

"You tell me where the witches are or I'll have my sister kill Elena right now."

Damon's eyes widened, staring at Elijah accusingly.

"You told me we had until after nine."

Elijah had clearly abandoned his nice-guy approach, skipping all negotiations and heading straight into the threats.

"I'm sure Rebekah will be more than happy to start her work early."

There was a heated silence as the three vampires glared between one another. The silence was broken when Kol finally got back up, rubbing his head with one hand and groaning. There was no way in hell that even Damon could get off with three probably-fuming Originals.

"They're at the abandoned witch house."

Elijah nodded, sending Klaus an authoritative look.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

With that, the brothers grabbed the still slightly disorientated Kol and disappeared into the night.

* * *

Esther watched the moon rise in the cool night sky, growing impatient. Beside her, Finn stirred, groaning. She turned towards him, knowing that whatever it was that had happened had been reversed. The Salvatores, in their bid to protect the doppelganger, had put her plan in jeopardy. If they had launched an attack on any of her other children, there was little to no doubt that the cat was out of the bag now. And there she had been hoping to be discrete about it. Time was passing far too slowly for her tastes as the moon appeared determined to stick to its too-low spot in the sky. A few moments passed with Finn rising to his feet groggily before they both heard the rustling of dried leaves under boots.

"They're coming, Mother!"

"No, it's too soon; the moon is not high enough. Go! Quickly!" Esther commanded, motioning to the two other witches in their midst. Abby and Bonnie looked at her apprehensively before quickly turning and retreating into the house. Just a few moments later, three out of four of the remaining Originals sauntered in.

"My sons, come forward," Esther gestured, hoping to stall for time. It was a shame that Rebekah was not here. This would after all be the last moments they would have before she eradicated them. But they are her children and they are a family. No matter how much she may wish to kill them, she loved them.

"Stay beside me, Mother." Finn murmured, moving forward to bodily put himself between their mother and his brothers.

"It's okay. They can't enter."

"That's lovely. We're stuck out here, while the favourite son plays sacrificial lamb. How pathetic you are, Finn," Kol growled. Honestly, he had just been un-daggered – after a hundred years he might add – and then daggered again and was now having an incessant headache – more thanks to the alcohol than anything his attackers did, and was not in the mood to get killed. What did they ever do anyway?

"Be quiet, Kol. Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine."

"Whatever you think of us, killing your own children will be an atrocity," Elijah reasoned, hoping even in this dire situation that Esther – their mother – would change her mind.

"My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago."

"Enough. All this talk is boring me. End this now, mother, or I'll send you back to hell," Niklaus growled; he would not be betrayed. Especially not by the people he let get close to him. Esther stared at him, her eyes filled with grief.

"For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you. Felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better, all of you. You're a curse on this Earth, stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry; you've wasted your time."

Esther sighed. She had to end them right? That was her purpose, the reason why she had been sentenced to a thousand years of living the final moments of each of her children's victims. They would be reunited once they were all dead. Her family would be whole again and they would not need to kill, to ruthlessly steal the lives of innocents. She waited, the spell would be ready soon then all of this would end. Abruptly, the flames began to sputter, drawing all of their attentions. Esther spared a brief glance at the moon, frowning, it was not ready. What was going on? Then she felt it, the link slowly crack and then break. The fires were dying out now. Esther gasped, feeling the energy leave her.

"No! Sisters! Do not abandon me!"

Esther screamed, the breaking of the bonds wounding her as she used her hands to cradle her throbbing head.

"Mother!" Finn exclaimed, eyes wide as he watched the spell go out of control. He spotted the window of opportunity as the fire flared up and grasped it, grabbing Esther and dashing for safety.

* * *

The three brothers watched as the fire flared, blinding them. When it calmed and extinguished, neither their brother nor their mother were anywhere to be seen. None of them said anything as they tentatively approached the abandoned pentagram. With the immediate danger removed, the cruelty of reality finally hit them. Their mother – the one that had raised them up, the one that defied the laws of which she was bound to protect them from the werewolves, the one who loved them and cared for them – and their brother – the one that always looked out for them, the one who loved them regardless of how detached he was, the one who had saved Kol from drowning in a lake, told Rebekah stories to coax her to sleep, went hunting with Niklaus and Elijah – had just tried to kill them all. There was a common understanding between them though that none of them wished to talk about the surge of betrayal and pain that was now undoubtedly coursing through them, deciding instead to examine the abandoned site. Kol kneeled next to the edge of the circle, running a finger over the outline. Nik and Elijah had told him that all of them – with the exception of Nik, since he was the _all powerful hybrid_ – had desiccated when he was daggered. He had suspected something then but had thought it impossible what with the difficulty of the spell. Now, looking at the salt pentagram drawn on the earth and the too-coincidental five torches, he knew what had happened – the five of them had been linked together.

Kol frowned, contemplating his options as he followed his brothers back to the manor.

* * *

By the time they arrived back home, Kol had already made up his mind. He, a thousand year old vampire, had somehow gotten daggered by a mortal. Granted, he had been somewhat drunk but it was too easy; too dangerous. And if they were going to live in this town with a homicidal lot of teenagers who appeared hell-bent to murder them, he was leaving.

"We need to leave."

His brothers looked up at him, shock blatant on their features.

"I am not leaving this town without the doppelganger," Klaus spat, clearly frustrated.

"You don't understand! If Finn finds a way to kill himself, and it does not help that he's suicidal, we'll all die! We need to get out of town!" Kol huffed, growing angry.

They had to leave, they were linked together; the lives of the five of them were interdependent now.

"I don't understand, brother," Elijah interjected calmly.

"We. Need. To. Leave. Town. Now." Kol deadpanned.

"I am not leaving without Elena."

Kol turned, staring at Nik with pure-blooded rage in his eyes.

"Are your bloody hybrids really that important, Nik? More so than your life? More so than family?"

The hybrid did not answer; he simply continued to stare at his brother, unwavering. Kol turned to Elijah, questioning him silently. He saw doubt in his elder brother's eyes and that was all he needed to see.

"Very well then," Kol surmised before turning around, heading back up to his room.

"Kol, wait!"

The Original paused, a dangerous emotion resembling hope rising in him. He quashed it.

"We should think this through, discuss it rationally."

Kol scoffed, rolling his eyes though he knew his brothers could not see him.

"There's nothing left to discuss, 'Lijah. The bottom line is that you two don't trust me. I truly hope I will see you again."

With that, Kol disappeared, the door to his room slamming shut. A few silent moments later, they both heard his window open and the soft thud on the ground. Then, he was gone.

* * *

Niklaus stared at the kindling flame, waiting for Rebekah to return. He slowly swirled the liquid in his hand, not bothering to drink it. Neither of the two remaining brothers had said a word since Kol had left.

"I need to find Finn," Elijah whispered, hoping that his brother would get the implied message. Apparently, he did.

"Don't lie, big brother. It never suited you. If you wish to leave, then just leave."

"Our family has caused enough harm Niklaus," Elijah murmured, turning quickly before his brother could respond.

Klaus continued to stare at the flame, his chest tight. Rebekah would be home soon, and she would come home to an empty house, cold and emotionless. Elijah turned back just before he exited the parlour.

"I'll leave once I bid my farewells to our sister."

And then, he was gone. Nik continued to stare at the flame; it appeared to be mocking him. Even such a small and insignificant thing had more than he did: warmth, peace, company within itself and the pieces of wood. Klaus slowly stood up, pouring what was left of his drink into the fire to extinguish it. The flame sputtered before burning stronger, the alcohol feeding it. The hybrid grimaced at the sight, toying with the glass. The light from the fire reflected off of it and onto his stash of paintings in the corner – paintings of Caroline. Caroline who was so sweet and pure, who was so full of light, undefiled by the filth of the world; Caroline who he had done so much for, who he had thought so highly of; Caroline who had used him, took advantage of his affection to lure him away from his brother, helped the people hell-bent on murdering him and his family, indirectly caused Kol to get daggered, knew of the plot to murder him and his family and assisted the potential murderers. Caroline Forbes. Klaus crushed the glass in his hand, the shards slicing his skin. He dropped what was left of the cup into the fire, letting it have it. He had been happy today, spending time with his lost sibling, acting like an actual family for once. But then he had been betrayed, by Caroline, by Finn, by his own mother. Kol had left and Elijah was leaving; Finn and their mother were still out there, determined to murder all of them. Klaus felt something feral stir in him. He had never flipped the switch in all his thousand years, not once. But he knew why some vampires did; it was easier without the burden of emotions. And now, he did not want to feel. He slowly walked towards the paintings, his eyes growing yellow.

* * *

Rebekah stalked into the room, fear from her discovery biting away at her. She had to tell her family, but who could she trust? It had been barely two days since they had been reunited and two of their number had already betrayed them. She looked up to find Elijah staring out the window, a thoughtful expression on his features.

"Where the bloody hell is everyone?" she questioned, her voice a lot calmer than how she felt.

"It's over, Rebekah."

The younger Original frowned, not following her brother's train of thought.

"Where's mother?"

Against her better judgement, she had let hope brew in her, wishing with everything that she had that their mother had changed her mind. Elijah sighed, sounding exhausted, as if his age was finally catching up to him.

"We have no mother. Only Esther and Esther was right."

Rebekah could not help the pang of pain in her heart. But once again, her brother was speaking in leaps and bounds and she was having quite a bit of trouble following him. She buried her emotions, instead addressing the second half of his statement.

"What do you mean?"

"My talk of virtue. When it suits my needs, I kill, maim, and torment. Even today, I terrorized an innocent."

Elijah continued watching the night sky, feeling bad for his sister. She had been through more than she deserved. Rebekah though felt the hurt melt away, quickly being replaced with anger. Even at such a junction in the road, her brother was still defending the damned doppelganger.

"Elena is hardly innocent," she spat, her voice laced with acid. Elijah rerouted his approach, refusing to be persuaded.

"And I used your hatred of her to get what I wanted; wielded you like I would a sword. My sister."

Rebekah gaped at him, a mixture of frustration and anger coming over her. The doppelganger was single-handedly destroying her family.

"You did it to protect us, Elijah, and rightly so! We deserve to live! We are better than they are."

"Are we? Mother made us vampires. She didn't make us monsters, we did that to ourselves," Elijah surmised, a quiet rage brewing behind the calm mask. He never showed his emotions; he needed to be rational for all their sakes. Rebekah stared after him as he slowly walked over to the front door. He calmly pulled it open and slipped outside, the door clicking shut behind him.

* * *

Rebekah walked silently into the parlour, she had heard her brother when she had come home. He really was all that she had. She paused behind him, watching him burn sketch after sketch of that blonde vampire that he was so fond of. The flame licked up the papers easily, turning them black as they crinkled and curled into themselves.

"I thought you'd have gone by now. Elijah's leaving. Kol's fled. Esther and Finn are gone too,"Klaus whispered, continuing to stare at the burning pieces of paper. That was all it was – paper. It had never been real. Rebekah felt almost accused, how could he have thought that she would leave?

"I hated you when I learned you killed our mother. But I realize now that after a thousand years together as a family, you're the only one who never left me."

Klaus let the ghost of a smile creep onto his features. It really was true, after all these years, Rebekah was all he had.

"Well, I'll be your pair," Klaus remarked, tossing the last of the drawings into the flame.

Rebekah watched him for a moment before pulling out her phone. If there were to be one person on the earth that she could trust, it would be Nik.

"There's something I need you to see."

She finds and selects the video she had taken whilst tormenting Elena earlier in the cave, clicking play and turning it in her hand so that her brother could see the screen.

"Come to brag about your skills as a torturer?" Klaus joked lightly, but patiently watched the video anyway.

"Look at the images on the wall behind Elena. The natives told the story of our family history, look at the images on the far wall."

"What is it?"

Rebekah paused for a moment, staring her brother in the eyes and looking more serious than she had been in quite a long while.

"A native worshipping at the Great White Oak tree."

Klaus sighed, still not understanding his sister's distress.

"And? We burned that tree to the ground."

Rebekah rolled her eyes, motioning for him to check again.

"Look at the markings that precede it. That's the native calendar."

She quieted, letting him read it for himself. Finally, he understood.

"This can't be right."

"A White Oak tree, 300 years after we fled back to the Old World. There must have been a sapling, a new tree to replace the old. That tree could kill us. It's not over, Nik."

* * *

Niklaus dragged his feet into his room, his mind a jumbled mess. The two had decided against alerting the rest of their wayward family of their discovery. After all, the less everyone knew the better. Klaus had then convinced his sister to stay calm and head to bed, promising to figure something out soon. He listened and waited patiently until Rebekah's breathing in the other room evened out. Then he flared. He grabbed the first thing his fingers touched – which happened to be a lamp – and flung it to the other end of the room. It caused a loud bang as the bulb shattered and it clattered to the ground. In the next moment, Nik had already gotten hold of the paper tray on the table, getting ready to have it join the lamp on the other end of the room. He could feel the feral instincts stirring in him, offering him peace and the bliss of not having to deal with his overwhelming emotions.

Then he heard a beep.

He paused, dropping the tray back on the table as he slowly looked over at the source of the sound. His previously hibernating computer had sputtered to life after the mouse had been hit by the lamp-projectile. The screen came to life, showing the last web page he had been on before he had left. A memory flickered in his mind, bringing a whole new wave of hurt.

_"Oh yes, I've been meaning to ask, what is an 'internet'?"_

_"Now Kol, the internet is not an object; it is a network. I'll explain later when we get home and I can get you to a computer - don't ask me what that is - and show you."_

Now he never would; he had fallen out with his younger brother over his hybrids, over their distrust, over family and over Elena. He could not hold it in anymore after that. The wolf ripped free of its restraints as his bones snapped and shifted. The pain was welcomed. The monster growled, overwhelmed by the pure instinct of bloodlust and hunger. When he was the wolf, he never had to feel the hurt, the grief, the pain, the loneliness and in that, he found relief. The beast growled, charging toward the open window and launching out of it, its paws welcoming the feeling of the fresh dirt and grass; it savoured the scent of the fresh leaves and the cool night breeze on its fur. Howling, it took off into the dark forest, promising death to all whose path it might happen to cross.


	4. Chapter 3: Old Abode

**A/N: ****Hi all! :) So I know this is WAY before the usual one a week that I said I was going to update at but I've been informed by a reader that canon content is becoming a little heavy recently. So I just thought to ask you all if you'd want me to change the updating frequency to get canon out of the way since it'll only be featured in Part I (which is already finished though that might cause a hiatus). The bulk of the story is in Part II onwards and in comparison, Part I is pretty small but there is a reason why it is there. Also, romance is all from Part II onwards. ****I am super self conscious of my writing and have tried my very best to insert interesting stuff in canon heavy chapters but honestly, from the writer's point of view, I have ABSOLUTELY NO idea whether it's becoming boring. So do feel free to tell me if you'd like updating to speed up :)**

**Thanks to all who followed this story, put it to their favorites, as well as all who took the time to review: **_InfinityXIII, sarahkitsonx, Marianna Elizabeth, niamheternal, SilverMidnight, Angeena, JadeLeighCharmed, katarauchiha653719 and Guest. _**Love you all and thanks to anyone else who is reading :)**

___Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV series or any of its characters; those belong to the CW network and all other respective owners. This is purely for entertainment._

* * *

_Last time:_

_The wolf ripped free of its restraints as his bones snapped and shifted. The pain was welcomed. The monster growled, overwhelmed by the pure instinct of bloodlust and hunger. When he was the wolf, he never had to feel the hurt, the grief, the pain, the loneliness and in that, he found relief. The beast growled, charging toward the open window and launching out of it, its paws welcoming the feeling of the fresh dirt and grass; it savoured the scent of the fresh leaves and the cool night breeze on its fur. Howling, it took off into the dark forest, promising death to all whose path it might happen to cross._

* * *

**Chapter 3: Old Abode**

_Miranda looked around her, feeling awfully unsure of herself. She tightened her grip on the package that had been entrusted to her, thinking back to that odd man that she had bumped into. Taking deep breaths in a hope to calm herself down, she kept walking, somehow finding herself unable to stop. The night breeze made the hair on the back on her neck stand on end, but maybe that would be better credited to the fact that she was walking through the thick forest in the middle of the night on her own. The moon hung full at the peak of the night sky, its weak illumination providing no comfort. Her shoes were thick with mud now, squelching when she moved and making her trek a slow and tiring one. Finally, she broke through the tree line and came face to face with the grand estate. Its walls were as white as the snow and it stood taller than any of the other houses back in town. The front and back lawn – or rather, fields looking at their size – were thick with lush green grass and carefully pruned bushes, complete with the bright splash of colour from clusters of flowers here and there. Despite the photogenic sight though, it brought chills down Miranda's spine. The stories around the place in the last few years were already more than all that surrounded the entire town in her whole history. Everything in her screamed for her to turn back, but her feet moved forward anyway, disregarding her own will._

* * *

Kol stumbled out of the car, pulling his bag with him. He slammed the door behind him, looking back in through the window at the driver.

"Leave and forget that you ever saw me."

The driver nodded slowly, sniffing slightly from being made to drive through the whole night. The Original had decided to spare the man for his efforts; he could get his meal elsewhere. He watched the vehicle pull away and disappear down the road, a faint cloud of black smoke trailing behind it. To be honest, he was awed by the progress of the car; it was so much faster, more comfortable and quieter. He had even allowed himself to sleep on the ride – after ascertaining time and time again that the driver was compelled enough to be trusted to not have a stake to stab him – and was thankfully now relieved of the headache that had descended upon him from the alcohol. He turned to the mouth of the road leading to his destination, grinning at the sight.

_New Orleans: His home away from home._

He towed his bags behind him, his memory pulling up the map of the town layout. The city had changed over the years. Gone were the days of the horse-drawn carriages, the shipping yards, the black top hats and dirt paths. Now, the buildings stood tall with elaborate designs, the roads – which were made of tar and smooth for once – were occupied by sleek vehicles more numerous than he had ever seen, and most of all, there were lights everywhere. Signs in front of shops and billboards were lit up in bright neon colours and the city was bustling despite the early hour. Kol had left the Mikaelson manor at about nine the night before and had then ran – at vampire speed of course – for about four hours before burning out and compelling himself a ride. That had in turn lasted five hours, landing him on the doorstep of New Orleans at six in the morning. There was already a crowd forming on the streets though. Throwing the strap of his bag over his shoulder, Kol walked in the general direction of the old Mikaelson mansion. He took note of the people bustling about, looking for a target. He spotted a lean female who looked to have just started her day. Without paying much heed, he walked over to her, catching her gaze.

"Follow."

The girl's eyes widened, blinking at him blankly before she slowly followed after him. When they got a considerable distance away from the rest of the population, Kol stopped. The darkness was not providing much cover but the Original was not bothered. He felt his fangs grow and blood surge to his eyes as he let the bloodlust take over. He sank his teeth into the woman's neck, the blood surging out of the wound.

* * *

_Miranda stared at the brass door knocker for a moment before gingerly lifting the heavy metal and letting it hit the door a few times. Half a breath later, the heavy ornate door swung open, a blonde male standing on the other side. His tousled hair was slightly curled, his eyes a light shade of blue and his gaze hard, as if he were hiding something. His skin was pale, and it looked almost ghostly in the faint light from the moon. Miranda swallowed the shudder that threatened to rise. The man was well-built, with sharp features and was dressed rather casually, in a simple black shirt and trousers. He frowned when he saw her, his blood-red lips quirking slightly._

_"Hello love, and what would you be doing here in this hour?"_

_Miranda stuttered for a moment before speaking._

_"I was told to give you this package."_

_Miranda stretched out her hand, offering the parcel to the man. He raised a questioning brow at her, not making a move at the parcel at all._

_"And what would that be?"_

_"I don't know what is inside. But I'm supposed to give it to you."_

_The man smirked then, an understanding light in his eyes as if he had figured something out._

_"Very well then."_

_He carefully took the box and tore off the seal. It contained nothing but a single, folded sheet of paper. His brows furrowed for a short moment and Miranda watched as he gingerly picked up the note and opened it. His sky blue eyes scanned the page quickly before a genuine smile formed on his features._

_"Come here, love."_

_Miranda took one tentative step toward the intimidating man, feeling more scared than she had ever been in her whole life. Then the most horrifying thing happened: the man's eyes grew red before turning black, the whites disappearing. The veins around his eyes surged with blood until their shade equalled that of his soulless eyes. Fangs, sharp and lethal, grew as too-strong hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her towards him. Miranda felt a sharp pain in her neck as she struggled to no avail. Her skin felt as if it were burning, the flame growing hotter the more she struggled to break free. Then, her world went dark._

* * *

The woman's body dropped to the ground, her skin sunken and ghastly pale. Kol licked the blood off his lips, checking himself for blood stains; he had never been a messy eater. He grabbed the body and towed it after him, casually disposing of it deep in the neighbouring forest. He then proceeded to the mansion, carrying his bag. It was evident that the place had been abandoned, yet there was still an air of grandeur surrounding the estate. The ivory-white walls had dulled over the century, moss and vines growing up its elaborate sides. Some of the windows dotting the walls were shattered, the culprits most likely the bravest of the children or victims of dares, while the survivors were coated in thick layers of dust. The thick wooden door had lost its design, the weather and termites having had eaten away at it. Both the front and back lawns had overgrown weeds and all sorts of wild plants inhabiting them, and the entire structure creaked when the wind blew. The infamous home had gained quite a reputation back in the days when its residents were people – or what everyone had thought anyway – rather than the small animals and vegetation of today, with enough stories circulating around it to write a fairly decent book. Now, Kol had no doubt that the number must be growing exponentially. The old abandoned mansion of the mysterious family, the residents of which having had disappeared without rhyme or reason, the big old house that was never sold or torn down despite its desolation. Oh, Kol could think of quite a few reasons why the place may well be the town's local ghost house.

He carefully pushed the front door open, holding back his strength before stepping inside. While the interior of the house had been spared the lashes of the weather, it had suffered just as much. Every surface – flat or otherwise – was covered in layers of dirt and dust, broken pieces of exquisite vases and china strewn on the wooden floor, cracking when the Original stepped on them. The paintings that had adorned the pure white walls had been shredded, their remnants left to the mercy of the mice and moths. Chandeliers held candles that had long since stopped burning, the wax having had dripped carelessly over the once-shiny metal.

Kol wandered around the house, unsure of his purpose here. He never got to see the end of this particular ghost story; Nik had daggered him and shoved him in a box. Kol ended up in front of his old room, pushing the door open and startling a family of mice back into their hole. Oddly enough, while his room had not been spared the dust and vermin invasion, nothing else had been touched. It seemed like an oddity compared to the rest of the house that looked like a hurricane had blown through. Kol flitted around the room but found nothing of use. He eventually left and drifted off to another part of the house, a broken window drawing his attention. He rolled his eyes, mildly annoyed by the pranksters. As he got closer though, he realised something rather peculiar. First of all, there was an obvious lack of projectiles anywhere near the broken window and unless they had thrown food or ran up and bodily hit the glass – which would involve a tricky climb to the second floor – , there would have been no way that the window was assaulted by mere children. But what really perplexed the Original was the stunning lack of glass. Kol moved over to the windowpane, fingering the rotted wood. A loud creak from the wood underneath him sent him jumping out the hole instinctively. Sure, even if the building collapsed on him, it would not do much harm but the level of dust, debris and who-knows-what would make for a horrible clean-up job. He'd rather just let the building die on its own.

He landed in a lithe crouch, unscathed, before rising to begin his trek back to civilization. That was when he heard the distinct crack of glass breaking under feet. He looked down and sure enough, glass littered the grass, easily spotted as they reflected the light of the rising sun. Realization dawned on him. The house had never been attacked by curious children on some boring afternoon; it had been destroyed from the inside, by the very people that had been living in it – his family.

* * *

_Klaus dumped the woman further into the woods, coming back into the manor a few moments later. Rebekah was settled on the couch, looking up when she spotted her brother returning._

_"And what was that all about?"_

_Klaus smiled, holding out the paper that he had in a vice-grip on in his right hand. _

_"Kol is in town."_

_Rebekah's eyes widened, her delicate brows furrowing before the information sank in and glee overtook her. Kol was back! The last she had seen of him was about eight hundred years ago and to be honest, she missed her cheeky older brother._

_"Let me see that!" Rebekah exclaimed, leaping to her feet and materializing in front of her brother in a heartbeat. She snatched the sheet of paper – which was almost ripped in half in her haste – and quickly scanned though it, her lips curling into a smile as she read through her brother's greeting. She realized then that she had not truly known exactly how much she had missed him._

_"P.S. Enjoy the treat," Rebekah read aloud, rolling her eyes before sparing a quick glance at Niklaus who shrugged nonchalantly. Give it to him to take the remark so literally._

_"Where is Elijah?" Rebekah asked all of a sudden, eager to share the good news._

_"Last I heard, he was heading into town."_

_"When will he be returning?" Rebekah pressed on, impatiently bouncing on the balls of her feet._

_"Patience love, you can count on our dear brother to be home before midnight. You can tell him then." Niklaus smiled charmingly, patting her on the shoulder, "I'm sure he will be thrilled."_

_Rebekah grinned in response before disappearing to her room with the precious note. Niklaus was not surprised; she had been extremely close to Kol when they were human. He was closest to her in age and while maturity brought Elijah and him to begin in their quest to conquer swords and hunting, Kol somehow fell into the role of Henrik and Rebekah's guardian, caring for them in his own way. It was only later when Henrik was gone, they had been turned and Kol had grown distant, that she had grown closer to the two of them but Nik had always known that she secretly missed the old days. His brother's arrival would be good; their family could come together again, apart from Finn of course whom he was secretly bringing around in a coffin. It was about time his brother returned to them._

* * *

Kol walked slowly away from the old mansion, still questioning his motives of going there in the first place. He knew what he had come here to do though – he was looking for help. By the time he got to town, the sun was just about to reach its apex in the sky. Kol walked along the pavement, trying to adjust to the new setting. The city had changed, but it had also stayed the same. While the buildings have grown taller, the technology better, the roads smoother and the people busier, it was still essentially the same. The spirit of the town, as cliché as it sounded, had never been destroyed or defiled by development. Kol continued walking along the path, eventually finding the squat house that he had been looking for. He paused at the doorstep, attempting to listen in on the conversations going on inside. Surprisingly though, he could.

The Original frowned, knocking three times on the wood before taking a step back to wait. There was light shuffling on the other side before the door swung open and a middle-aged redhead poked her head out, her flaming hair a matted mess and her lips pursed, as if irritated by the interruption. Her glare melted away into a faux smile the moment she spotted him though.

"Hello! Can I help you?" she asked, subconsciously taking two steps towards him and leaving the door a little too open.

"Hello darling, what's your name?"

"Jenny Adams."

Kol frowned, though he smoothed his features back into an emotionless mask before she noticed anything.

"Adams? Well Jenny, how long has your family been living in this house?"

The redhead looked confused by the random question before replying easily.

"I think my parents moved in here about fifty or sixty years ago."

"And may I ask where did the family before you go?"

Another frown before a reply came. Kol listened carefully to her heartbeat, just to make sure she was not lying.

"Oh, they never met them. The house was left vacant for a long time, sometime in the early 1900s I think. Folks that lived around those times called it haunted or whatnot so no one moved in until mum and dad came to town."

"Thank you for your time."

Kol turned to leave, ignoring the woman calling after him for a reason he could not be bothered with. He had been looking for an old friend, or rather her descendants – a witch that he had been good friends with before he was daggered; she would have been able to break the link spell. Now that was clearly a dead end. He would have to track where they had gone. It was just past noon now, and the streets were getting swamped with office workers heading out for lunch.

He continued moving forward before ducking into an alley and grabbing a young man who had wandered a little too close to him. He figured he could try his luck.

"Do you know where the Lightwood family left to? They were here in the early 20th century."

The man looked at him like he had just sprouted another head.

"I don't know what you're talking about, man!"

Kol heaved a sigh of frustration, before compelling the man's memories away and shoving him aside as he disappeared back out on the streets. When he reached the next alley, he had yet another office worker pinned against a wall, once again reaching no useful conclusion. Five alleys later, Kol had pinned down a squat, professional-looking woman who looked utterly terrified when he grabbed her.

"Hello darling, would you happen to know where the Lightwood family went? They were last seen in the early 20th century."

The woman seemed almost relieved from the question, before answering in the mechanic voice that was symbolic of the compelled.

"I don't know who they are but you could check the library. The town's records are stored in there."

"Library?"

"Yeah, actually, I work there. It's the three-story building right down the street. It has windows for most of the walls on the top two floors, there's a brown sign in front of it, and it's alone in the middle of a field... It stands out from the rest of the buildings in this area; you can't miss it."

Kol nodded along, library it was then. He swiftly compelled her memories away before disappearing down the way she had pointed out.

* * *

Kol pushed the door open and was hit by a wave of cold air. He instinctively drew back slightly, unfamiliar with the odd sensation before ascertaining that it was harmless and cautiously heading inside. The building was huge, the walls lined with towering shelves of books of every size and colour. The interior was decorated in a sky blue tone and the floor was carpeted in a darker shade of the same colour. More book shelves stood in neat rows, forming aisles where the occasional book avid could be spotted. The entire room was brightly lit by an abundance of long sticks attached to the ceiling that Kol recognised as fluorescent bulbs. There was a counter on his right where a woman dressed in a maroon uniform was settled, clicking some buttons on what looked like a board and entirely focused on a flat black object that was standing vertically. Kol spied the name tag on her vest and moved over, a smirk in place.

"Hello, I would like to ask how I can check the town records."

The woman paused and looked up at him, a practiced smile on her face.

"Good afternoon sir, you can use the station over there. Please feel free to approach any members of our staff if you have any queries."

"Thank you."

Kol turned away from the counter and headed over to the 'station', unsure as to how the receptionist expected him to find almost three hundred years worth of records – if you were to take the town's whole history into account – in what looked to be a meagre set-up of a table, a chair with wheels attached to it – oddly enough – and one more of those sets of black boards with buttons all over one of them.

Kol glared at the blasted object, frustrated. What was with modern people and these stupid slabs? His head snapped over to the side when he heard someone approach him, the footsteps loud to him despite the soft carpeting of the library floor. He swiftly reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders, rewarding him with a gasp and an enticing jump to his victim's heart rate. She opened her mouth to say something but by the time he had turned her to face him, had apparently thought better of it and clamped her mouth shut. Kol examined his catch clinically and was pleasantly surprised when he realized she was another employee.

Over the years, or rather, centuries, Kol had met a lot of people and there were exactly two types of reactions he got. The first was awe and fascination, whether that may be due to his more-than-charming appearance or otherwise. Kol supposed that it was only natural for the human race to be so driven by such primal instincts, and indeed how quickly they fall for such superficial traits. The second, usually produced by people with slightly more sense, was fear. Just as the deer naturally flees from the lion, some instinct in them, no matter how minute, warns them that he was dangerous and they shrink back away from him. The problem with that though, was that that just made him hungry. In the case of this teenager, it was the latter; the moment she set eyes on him, her eyes clouded with what could only be fear, and she bodily flinched away from him. Kol felt an odd vibe coming off of her and on closer examination, he felt like there was something else under the fear in her eyes.

"I have not done anything, I swear! I have broken none of the laws."

Kol scowled in confusion before he successfully identified what he was getting off the girl. Most would not feel it but he was well-accustomed with their kind: witch. He supposed she was not a descendant of the Lightwood line though; they would not fear him – he had sworn his loyalty to them a long time ago.

"I'm afraid I don't quite follow you, darling."

The child – because that was exactly how old she was compared to him – suddenly grew enraged, as if something had just occurred to her.

"We're not in the Quarter..." she murmured, more to herself than to him, before looking up with renewed agitation, "Don't play with me blo— vampire. Did Marcel send you? I have no business with him. While we may submit to him in the Quarter, this is not his terrain."

Kol chuckled lightly to himself, shaking his head.

"I'm not acquainted with this Marcel character to be honest. All I wanted was to ask how to check the town records. I've been... away of sorts."

The teenager flushed an interesting shade of red, before regaining her composure and growing angry again. Kol could not help but feel a little amused.

"You're a vampire, aren't you? Don't lie to me! Marcel rules over your race in these parts. If you aren't with him than you would be dead."

"Logically speaking, I'm already dead. And honestly, I doubt this Marcel can do anything to me actually. You must be new to the supernatural world or surely you would have heard of me. So let me introduce myself, Kol Mikaelson, Original vampire."

The girl's jaw dropped, staring at him in shock as she struggled to find the right things to say. Kol smirked, narrowing his eyes in what he knew was a particularly predatory manner.

"So, who's the Big Bad Wolf now?"

* * *

Kol ran his hand over the spines of the books lined up neatly on the shelf, shifting his weight to get more stability on his precarious perch on the rickety tower of chairs that had an old, currently creaking, table for a foundation. Honestly, he still could not bring himself to believe that the ladder that usually allowed employees to reach the upper shelves was conveniently missing. The girl must really hate him, or at the very least, not like him. She had not looked very convinced that he was not a subordinate of Marcel and must be deliberately making things difficult for him. Fine for him though, he did not like her all that much either.

"Are you done? You aren't supposed to be here you know. It's an 'Employees Only' area."

The redhead was glaring daggers at him from where she was standing, hands crossed over her chest.

"Well darling, if you had just relented and taught me how to use that commuter outside then we would not be in this mess now, would we?

"It's 'computer'."

"I don't care."

Kol felt rather than saw the girl roll her eyes, his attention still focused upon the books – records from who knows how long ago – before him.

"Oh and no, I'm not about to waste my time trying to teach you things I don't even believe you don't really know."

"Oh and I just happened to want to dig through books instead."

That shut her up for a while but the blessed silence did not last long.

"Are you do—"

Kol grabbed a thick volume out of the shelf and tossed it carelessly onto the table in the center of the petite archives room. Without waiting a beat, he leaped off his perch and charged straight at the girl, his hand shooting out to clamp around her throat. The teenager paled a few shades, her eyes wide and fearful. She must not be all that accustomed to exactly how quickly a vampire's mood could turn.

"You're tiring me, child. You will do well to remember that I can kill you and I will kill you. So don't test me." The grip on her throat tightened slightly and she could not help but claw hopelessly at his hand. "Do you understand?" She nodded as much as she could, noting that she was producing a pitiful croaking sound, and he released her, stalking back over to the table to retrieve the book.

"I'll be taking this with me but no need to worry, I actually know what a library is for once and I'll return it once I've found what I'm looking for."

The girl opened her mouth to say something but seeing as how the new bruise on her neck was already beginning to purple, deflated and kept whatever she was about to say to herself. Kol paused right in front of her, staring at her in a way that was making the girl feel immensely uncomfortable. He narrowed his eyes then and shrugged, his smirk back in place.

"There's something familiar about you... What's your name, darling?"

"Lynette Jane Kelly."

Kol rolled his eyes, as if he were speaking to a fool.

"Your witch line, dear. You are a witch right?"

Understanding dawned on Lynette's features before she seemed to shrink back a little, as if remembering the result of the last time she had shot her mouth off.

"Yeah but I'm not a very good witch though. And it's Ambrose."

Kol stared at her for a moment before heaving a theatrical sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, shaking his head.

"Well this changes things."

"What?"

"You're coming with me."

For once, Lynette did not look angry or irritated. Instead, she was totally flabbergasted.

"Wait, what?!"

"You said Marcel was hunting you, correct? Then you have to come with me."

"I don't—"

Kol grabbed her arm brusquely before towing her out of the room, her desperate attempts to dig her heels into the ground failing rather predictably. Lynette felt rage surge through her, even as she glared at the back of the Original's head. Then something snapped and Kol winced, whipping back around and scowling at her.

"Please don't do that. I do not need to feel any more inclined to kill you."

Lynette focused harder but the shock had worn off and all she got for her efforts was Kol shutting his eyes in exasperation.

"I am more than a thousand years old Lynette and I have been around witches for more than half of that time. Do you really think you can hurt me?"

Lynette scowled, looking – to Kol anyway – like an angry puppy, all bark but no bite.

"Fine, but at least let me walk on my own."

Kol let go of her, silently warning her with his less-than-friendly gaze that if she tried to run, something very bad would happen to her. For a while, they walked in silence, Kol lagging behind to keep her in his sight. She was not amused.

To Lynette's eternal credit, and unfortunately, as she would decide later, stupidity, when they were skimming on the edge of the more populated area of the library, she bolted, abruptly yelling at a colleague and garnering the attention of the entire floor's occupants. She heard some of the visitors murmur things along the lines of crazy and being inconsiderate as well as curses that she would rather not repeat, and physically saw her co-workers gaping at her as if she had just declared that she was going to blow up the building. Her superior's face stood out the most and Lynette could already tell that she was fired. But who cared about their job when a crazy, homicidal vampire was after you anyway? She knew she was dancing on a fine line though; she would not think it beneath Kol to murder everyone here, he was after all, definitely capable of it and did not look like he tagged much value to life.

"Miss Kelly! What do you think you are doing?"

"Oh, I'm sorry Mister Johnson."

"You better have a good reason for this. See me in my office!" the short, grumpy looking man roared before hurrying over to the counter and announcing his apology to the floor, which went back to whatever it was that they had been doing before. Lynette hurried after the man, turning back just before the door to the office shut behind her.

She had no idea why but she spotted him immediately, standing at the edge of the slowly dispersing crowd. He looked almost... amused, as if he had been expecting nothing less from her than to run. Then, she saw a flash in his eyes as they grew dark, and though he did not show them, she knew that sharp fangs must have extended behind his casual smirk. The door swung shut, blocking her vision for half a second before she got a smaller view of the room outside through the rectangular glass pane in the door. She spent a short moment scanning the crowd but in true vampiric fashion, Kol was gone.

* * *

Lynette pushed the employees' door open, sighing heavily. Fairly expectantly, she _had_ been fired, since she did not after all have a good reason to have yelled in the library. Also, someone had apparently seen her leave the archives with a distinctly not-employed-at-the-library male. And hence, here she was now in the back alley of her former workplace having nothing but curses for Mister Kol Mikaelson. Lynette grumbled to herself, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. That was when she first felt it, an odd sensation that there was someone near her. Maybe it was her fledgling witch instincts kicking in because her feet started walking a lot faster than usual. She thought that she would hear footsteps quicken up behind her but all that greeted her was silence among the nagging feeling that she was being followed. She was about to dismiss her qualms to nerves left over from meeting one of the oldest vampires earlier in the day when she was grabbed and thrown into the brick wall, her bag sliding off her shoulder and her head throbbing as it impacted the concrete.

"Lynette Jane Kelly, witch of the French Quarter, you have been found to have practiced magic today and to have left the Quarter four days ago without authorization. Marcel wishes to see you," a tall solemn looking man deadpanned, looking very much like he had been doing this for far too long. He was donned in a long brown trench coat that trailed behind him like a cloak. His hair was shaggy and his features angular, giving him a menacing look. Another man and a woman flanked him on his left and right respectively, the same, almost robotic manner to how they stood. The woman, a blonde dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans, smiled and Lynette could see her fangs in the faint moonlight. Lynette looked between them, feeling a longing for the open street just a few feet from where she was. With the trio of vampires in front of her though, she might as well have been on the other side of the country.

"Please don't resist us. Things don't need to get any messier."

The man – clearly a vampire – approached, driving her to the wall. Lynette could hear her heart hammering in her chest, and to her dismay, she knew they could too.

"So much tension."

All four of them froze, the vampires with the help of their enhanced senses, turning in unison to the same direction. None other than Kol Mikaelson stood before them, leaning against a wall and nonchalantly toying with his fingers, as if the entire situation was immensely boring to him. Much to Lynette's chagrin, she felt relieved.

"And who would you be to question Marcel's rules?"

Kol looked up from his inspection of his cuticles, shrugging.

"Oh go ahead and kill her. Don't mind me."

Lynette gaped at him, unable to help but feel a little betrayed. The female member of the group broke off, approaching the Original cautiously.

"Who are you? Did Marcel send you? Does he not trust us?"

Kol looked pleasantly amused, that damned smirk still playing across his features.

"Oh no no, you are entirely mistaken, darling. I just happened to be passing by though I have been told that I look horribly like someone working with you. What fool would make such an assumption though... Honestly, I have never been much of a joiner."

"Then what business do you have here, outsider?"

Kol shrugged, sparing a glance at Lynette and tilting his head to one side, as if he were asking her a question. The blonde seemed to notice his distraction, turning to face Lynette before scowling.

"The witch? She belongs to the Quarter."

Kol grinned then, spreading his arms out in front of him.

"I was looking for someone and I must have mistaken her for someone else. My apologies for ruining your fun, I'll be leaving now."

Lynette gaped at him, dumbfounded, even as she watched him glide – because that was exactly how he was moving – past them and head towards the haven of the street. Desperation surged through her.

"Help me!" she hissed under her breath, though everyone could still hear her. The Original paused, but did not turn back.

"Why?"

"I'm sorry, okay? I've been living in fear all my life and they killed my brother and I—"

Lynette could feel the hot sting of tears in the back of her eyes, a product of the cocktail of anger, rage and despair that was coursing through her. She blinked them back.

"Stop this nonsense, witch. Your kind has given us so much trouble. If Marcel were not so merciful, we would have wiped you all out," the leader hissed, baring his fangs.

Lynette shrunk back against the wall. Kol would not help her, why would he help her? After all, she was the one who had ran from him just a few hours ago. And now she was going to be executed by Marcel, just like Henry. The woman walked forward toward her, moving to restrain her when the silence was once again broken.

"Fair enough."

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. One moment the female vampire was just inches away from her, reaching to grab her hands. The next moment, she had been flung like a rag doll toward the other end of the alley. A whirlwind of colour shot after her, jerking the vampire to a premature halt as her body fell to the ground, her heart casually discarded next to her. Blood soaked through her clothes and pooled sickeningly around her. Before any of them had time to recover, the other male, who had not spoken through the entire confrontation, was yanked to the side and away from Lynette, a single swipe separating his head from the rest of his body as he crumpled to the ground in a messy heap. The third and final survivor of the trio was grabbed by the collar before being slammed hard into the asphalt, a black combat boot secured on his neck. He flailed and struggled against the suffocating hold but it was obvious who was stronger.

"And now you've made me make a mess."

Kol shook his head chidingly, staring disinterestedly at his bloody hands. Lynette shrunk back further into the wall, absolutely terrified by what she had just witnessed. For all she had seen of him during that short massacre, if she had not already known, she would not even have been able to tell who it was. He was so fast, powerful, brutal and lethal. But what scared her though, was how little he seemed to care, how he could maintain that snide little smirk even as he wiped his bloodied hands on the younger vampire's jacket, the latter too fearful to say or do anything in return. He was like a fallen angel, beautiful but deadly.

And this scared her to death.

Kol pulled his foot away from the vampire's neck and the latter immediately shot back up to his feet, and fled. Before he got even a foot away though, he was grabbed and jerked back, slammed mercilessly into the wall as if Kol had intended to do that all along but was simply too lazy to bend over and lift him up himself. The younger vampire was shell-shocked, eyes wide in terror and breathing growing uncharacteristically rapid and shallow. The shock of what had happened to his friends must have worn off; all that was left now was pure, unadulterated horror.

"What are you?" His voice wavered, his fear seeping through and becoming obvious even to Lynette.

Kol's face lit up in a crooked smile, his eyes sparkling in whatever sick pleasure this was giving him.

"Older than you, obviously. You know, I did not quite appreciate your comment about witches. I happen to hold quite a high regard for them, ran with different covens for about six hundred years."

The man's eyes widened with renewed fear, as realization dawned on him.

"You're an Ori—"

Then rather abruptly, Kol struck, baring his fangs and sinking his teeth into the jugular of the younger vampire. He screamed, writhing to no avail before he was just as abruptly released. Lynette caught a short glimpse of the Original in his full vampire glory and it was like nothing she had ever seen before. She had seen other vampires with their fangs extended of course, the veins around their eyes their signature charcoal black, but for Kol, whether it may be due to his age or lineage, while his eyes had gone black, the veins around them had not despite becoming more pronounced. Maybe no two vampires had exactly the same visage, but she had not thought of that – until now. His features relaxed back into their normal state, the vampire once again grinning, as he wiped the little blood that had trickled down his mouth off with the back of his hand. He then proceeded to wipe it on the other man's jacket.

"Very good. Now, listen to me very carefully," Kol purred, his voice smooth as silk, "You will return to Marcel and you will tell him this, 'Your hunting party is dead. The witch is under protection from a man you do not want to meet and if you try to go after her again, you'll join your friends in hell.' Then, you will kill yourself. Oh and once you leave this alley, you will forget you ever saw me. Goodbye now."

The man blinked slowly before turning robotically and leaving, not seeming to realise that thanks to Kol, he was covered in blood. The only two people left from the confrontation remained silent, both watching the vampire slowly leave the alley and turn down the street. Kol finally turned to look at her, growing serious.

"Three vampires died today because you had the audacity to run from me earlier. You should be ashamed."

"I—" Lynette was about to rebut but saw the truth in his words. They had died because she had ran. Now, why in the world was she feeling guilty over her assailants' deaths?

Kol watched her for a moment before sighing, dragging the remains of the decapitated male to the end of the alley, where he dumped it next to the female. He then pulled a lighter from his pocket and set the bodies on fire.

"You really need to do something about your poor education in witchcraft, darling. When Danielle was your age, she could have dropped more than three times that number of vampires. I've seen her do it."

Kol's voice broke Lynette out of her reverie, her head snapping up to look at him. She realised that her vision was blurry; she had started crying without her notice.

"Danielle?"

"Danielle Mary-Ann Ambrose, an ancestor of yours. A powerful witch she was, even though the last I saw of her was when she was sixteen years old."

"She's my great-grandmother. My grandma used to tell me stories about her."

"Well I knew her. In fact, she was a very good friend of mine."

Danielle wiped away the remaining tears from her eyes, focusing instead on the conversation. If she could find out why he seemed so obsessed with her, maybe she would not be so afraid of him.

"How old are you, exactly?"

Kol rolled his eyes, the light from the blaze reflecting off his features and turning his brown hair golden.

"I'm twenty-one actually but if you have to get all technical about it, then I'm a thousand and nineteen, including the dull human years."

As if he were satisfied with how the fire was burning, he turned away from it and walked over to her.

"This is not a place to talk, if you still do not believe me then feel free to leave but don't expect me to help you the next time someone comes after you. Otherwise, come with me."

Kol started walking away from her, heading out of the alley. Lynette watched him for a moment, her eyes straying to the splatters of blood on the walls and ground. He was dangerous; following him would be stupid.

But not following would be suicide.

And with that, Lynette felt her feet move forward even as she started after him, the flame cackling behind her.


	5. Chapter 4: Learning the Ropes

**A/N: Hello! Chapter for the week :) So I've gotten over my whole crisis and will be updating on a weekly to biweekly basis. Special thanks to **_pammiie _**for responding to my question :) Also, I've chopped the A/N in the last chapter down to leave the option of modifying updating frequency open but not as... glaring if you will, since I bold my A/Ns it was really very long now that I've gone back and looked at it. **

**As usual, thanks to all who have followed and reviewed this story: **_NateBuzzLover.5, TwistedMidnight, pammiie, InfinityXIII and Lauren Lydia Jane Mikaelson._

_____Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV series or any of its characters; those belong to the CW network and all other respective owners. This is purely for entertainment._

* * *

_Last time:_

_"This is not a place to talk, if you still do not believe me then feel free to leave but don't expect me to help you the next time someone comes after you. Otherwise, come with me."_

_Kol started walking away from her, heading out of the alley. Lynette watched him for a moment, her eyes straying to the splatters of blood on the walls and ground. He was dangerous; following him would be stupid._

_But not following would be suicide._

_And with that, Lynette felt her feet move forward even as she started after him, the flame cackling behind her._

* * *

**Chapter 4: Learning the Ropes**

The night breeze caressed the skin on her cheek, making her shiver. Her hair played in the wind, snaking out behind her as if it had a life of its own, standing out against the black canvas of the night sky like fire. The moon splashed splotches of dim light upon the cement, forming intricate patterns. The contrast was stark yet the two fitted together perfectly, one being unable to exist without the other. Good and evil; light and shadow.

Lynette hugged the hoodie she had on closer to her and stuffed her hands into their respective pockets. She watched her companion walk over to the edge of the roof that they were on, seemingly unbothered by height or weather. Lynette had never been a fan of high ground though so she stayed rooted to her spot in the center of the square, where she could feel a little less vulnerable to the prospect of plummeting to a bloody death. Why, of all places, did it _have_ to be a roof? Kol turned back to look at her, as if he were finally content with his inspection of the space. Lynette saw his mouth open but whatever he was saying got eaten up by the howling of the wind. They really were high up above ground; the thought made the redhead sick to her core.

Kol seemed to realize that she could not hear him, because he stared at her pointedly before appearing right in front of her. Lynette let out a startled squeak. She did not think she had ever seen a vampire more accepting of their vampirism than Kol; everything he did seemed to embody it while others that she had met seemed to at least try to maintain some form of normalcy in their lives. She did not think she would ever get used to it.

"As I was saying, which appears to be quite well proven, no one will find us up here."

Even though he was just about a foot in front of her, she still had trouble hearing what he was saying, having to strain her ears to listen.

"But aren't there vampires at night? I mean, couldn't we have talked tomorrow? Met up somewhere dark or something?"

At first, Lynette worried that he would not be able to hear her, she did not tend to raise her voice much and even when she did, it was not very formidable. Kol looked amused though, so she supposed he heard her just fine.

"Yes, all the scary things do come out at night, don't they? Though I do find it interesting as to why you would want to meet somewhere 'dark'. Sunlight can't kill me, darling. Surely as a witch you should know better than that, which brings us back to the subject of your dismal education. As for the scary vampires, I believe the worst one in town is standing right in front of you and they will not be able to find us unless they are looking, which in that case..."

Kol grinned, and Lynette got the message perfectly.

"If you have any questions, darling, feel free to shoot."

Lynette mulled over it for a while before responding. She did have quite a few questions since they had met earlier today. She started with the most obvious.

"So you knew my great-grandmother?"

Kol had a distant look in his eyes, as if he were recalling memories from ages past.

"Yes. Like I said, I have always been on good terms with witches and after I moved here, I befriended the local coven. Danielle was one of them."

"How did you know I was related to her?"

"I knew you were a witch the moment I saw you, I have a certain affinity with your kind since I spent most of my life surrounded by witches and magic. As for the blood relation, you look like her. You have the same hair and eyes though you are regrettably a lot less practiced in the ways of magic and the supernatural world."

Lynette tried not to take offence to that.

"So why did you protect me?"

Kol narrowed his eyes slightly and for a moment, she thought she had done something to upset him. But then his expression relaxed again and the smirk was back in place.

"I am loyal to those around me, darling, even the departed. You are her descendant, a part of her line and hence, I thought it only suitable for me to help you when you happen to be in a life-threatening situation."

Lynette was about to call him out on exactly how _un_willing he had been but bit back her words. Instead she ventured into more neutral topics.

"Since I'm so uneducated," she could not really help herself with the jab, "could you tell me more about vampires, Originals and stuff? I mean I know the basics but that's all."

Kol chuckled lightly to himself, his eyes dancing with mirth.

"How very polite of you," he chided lightly but otherwise let it go, "The supernatural world is mainly made up of vampires, werewolves and witches, though we do see the occasional ghost floating around. Then there are small pockets of species that are rarer: doppelgangers, hybrids, Original vampires and who knows what.

"Vampires and Originals are related – obviously. We, the Original family, were the roots of the entire vampire species. Most of our traits are shared though there are exceptions. All vampires possess superior strength, speed and senses, are capable of compulsion, dream manipulation and are sturdier. Then there are the more subtle skills like accelerated healing and immortality. These abilities are shared, with the exception that we got the long end of the stick and while your layman vampire can only compel humans, we can compel vampires as well."

The scene back in the alley manifested before Lynette: Kol having had driven the other vampire to the wall and commanding him, said vampire leaving without seeming to realise anything else around him. Well that all made sense now.

"Then there are also vast differences on how you may go about offing one of us. Vampires can be killed with a simple stake to the heart. Or in a more colourful fashion, removing a major organ will do the trick as well: Spine, heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, brain if you are willing to go through the trouble, or you could simply take off the whole head. They can also be killed by exposure to the sun. That one's nasty. Slow, painful... … useful. Vervain is another useful tool. It burns but it won't kill. And then there's werewolf venom but that's a little tricky to get a hold of."

"'They'?" Lynette whispered, noting that Kol was beginning to refer to vampires in the third person. Much to her surprise, her voice remained steady; she did not exactly like Kol's descriptions of murder and he was talking about it with as much interest as someone deciding what to eat for lunch.

"Like I said, we Originals aren't quite the same. A stake doesn't do much to us for example. It really depends on what you can recover from. If you can recover from it, it won't be lethal."

"So, how does one go about...?"

Lynette paused, her voice fading out.

"Killing an Original?" Kol finished innocently, raising an eyebrow. "There is only one way to kill an Original and last I heard it perished with the ashes of my dead father."

Lynette gasped, but Kol still looked pleasantly amused.

"I— I'm sorry."

The Original stared at her for a moment before he chuckled, earning him a scowl from the redhead.

"I'll never understand you commoners..." Kol looked like something had occurred to him just before he was about to say something further. He smiled the ghost of a smile, and for once, he did not look at her like she was something to be eaten. Lynette's retort to his comment dissipated and she frowned.

"What?"

"You remind me of someone, though you are noticeably more irritating… On second thought, never mind."

Lynette thought she saw a sort of affection in his eyes but it was gone before she could be sure. Instead, she asked him something that she had been wondering for awhile.

"Do vampires feed off of one another?"

Kol grimaced, looking as if he were disgusted before continuing.

"No."

"But you—"

Kol's eyes lit up, understanding dawning upon him.

"I didn't feed off of him, though I can understand your confusion. I simply bit him to make sure he was not on vervain."

"Oh," Lynette surmised, unable to think of anything else to say.

A moment passed before she spoke again, Kol, for some reason, deciding to keep quiet.

"Why? Like, I'm sorry but does different blood taste different or..."

Kol grinned, but she could tell that he was starting to get uncomfortable.

"All for your education, right?" He smiled but it did not reach his eyes.

"Blood does taste different. The source, the age, the type... it all changes the taste here and there. We can live off any kind of blood but human works and tastes best. Older blood gets stale and if the person is sick, smokes or whatever else you mortals have created to poison yourselves, there are changes as well. So blood to us tastes best when it comes from a human, is pure and fresh – right from the vein."

Once upon a time, what Kol had just said would have made Lynette shudder, or perhaps run down the street screaming but oddly enough, it seemed like a lot of things have changed.

"You said you can live off any blood so why not vampire blood?"

Kol smiled at her but it was looking more and more strained.

"Aren't you a curious one? Very well, if you must know, we do feed off of one another but not like how we would for food. If you were going to take everything very realistically, vampire blood tastes and fits us best. The proper term for that would be 'blood sharing'."

Kol paused for a moment before continuing.

"We don't feed off of one another all that much though. Blood sharing is... personal."

"Have you—"

"Well aren't we getting awfully comfortable with one another?"

Lynette quieted immediately, realizing too late that she had gotten too engrossed. Kol was still smiling good-naturedly but his eyes had hardened. Question time was over.

"It's getting late, best we get you home now then. Wouldn't want you bumping into anything now would we?"

Lynette spared a quick glance at her watch, squinting to read it in the dark. 1:49 a.m. _It's getting late. _Sure.

"Okay."

Kol ghosted past her to the door, pushing it open and holding it for her. Lynette quickly took the hint and scurried off the roof, not wishing to upset him further. The walk back was awkward to say the least. Kol did not bother to start a conversation, instead maintaining what he had called a healthy distance of about six feet between them. Whenever Lynette tried to say something, it would be as if he could sense it and he would look at her in a way that bordered on a glare and quite naturally, she would swallow what she had wanted to say. Eventually, she had given up but the sheer hostility that was rolling off of him in waves kept her constantly on edge and now that he was back on I'm-a-thousand-year-old-vampire-that-can-kill-you- in-a-second duty, the subterfuge was over and all she could think about were the vampires back in the alley. The blood splattered on the walls, the woman's heart beating one last time before it was ripped from her chest, the man's headless body falling to its knees before collapsing as his head watched it with unseeing eyes, mouth open in a silent scream. Even the lone survivor of the trio, where was he now? Did he run himself over? Ripped his own still-beating heart from his chest? Tore himself apart? Driven a stake through his heart? Or was he going to wait until day break before stepping out into the sun? _That one's nasty_, Kol had said. _Slow, painful... useful._ Lynette shuddered. What if one day he decided she was not worth sparing anymore? Then what would he do? What would _she_ do?

"Is this it?"

Kol's voice tore through Lynette's daydream, and she started. He was watching her carefully, motioning to a squat little house tucked away in a corner. It was not all that remarkable what with the larger, grander homes around and was pretty insignificant. The front yard was covered in lush green bushes and was halved by a cement path that ran from the front gate to the door. There were a few trees lining the sides of the yard that cast would-be shade over the grass in the day, in the night though, the clusters of leaves created a patchwork of light on the green. The house itself was a deep shade of brown that was darker than the usual colour of wood. It was made up of two small portions, one of which had a triangular roof and the other, a flat one. The house was single storey, with windows lining the sides. The lights were all off with the exception of the one on the porch. It took a moment before Lynette recognized the estate as her home and nodded.

"How'd you know?"

Kol pat the mailbox lightly, where the family name Kelly was painted neatly on it in white paint. Lynette could have sworn she saw the crude stick it was balanced upon sink a little deeper into the earth.

"It isn't very wise of you to announce your address to the world you know," Kol deadpanned, glaring at her. Lynette blinked at him blearily, not very sure how to go about responding to that statement.

"You're not a night person are you, darling? You might as well be sleeping on your feet."

"I—" Lynette attempted to rebut, but it was like her brain _had_ shut down. She must have had no idea how tired she really was. Kol rolled his eyes.

"Just go in. Vampires can't enter without invitation from the home owner so make sure you and whoever else you are living with don't let random strangers in. And get rid of that mailbox."

Lynette nodded, dragging her feet over to the front door. She felt like dead-weight. She reached up to the eave and groped around, her fingers clenching when she touched something hard and cold. Pulling the key from its hiding place, she fumbled with it for a moment before slotting it into the door and turning the knob. Lynette turned then, suddenly realizing she had yet to bid farewell.

"Bye."

Her voice was swallowed by the wind as she blinked at the empty street. Kol was gone but somehow she felt like he was still watching her. A mixture of relief and fear filled her but she supposed that it was better if he were around, just in case. Lynette pushed the door open and stepped into the house, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Rebekah sat cross-legged on the couch, laptop in hand and her sharp, sapphire eyes scanning through multiple web pages. She looked up when she heard Niklaus saunter in, the latter staring off into space even as he absent-mindedly swished gold liquid around a half-empty bottle.

"Finally decided to come home, Nik?"

"Rebekah love, I believe you are past your bed time."

Klaus flailed his arms slightly, as if to emphasize his point, before taking a swig from his drink. Rebekah rolled her eyes, watching with sadistic amusement as her brother dragged himself to the opposite couch and plopped down on the cushions.

"Are you drunk?"

"Now sister, I do not get drunk. I am a little dizzy, slightly nauseous and may have no idea how I got home, but I am not drunk." The hybrid's voice was muffled by the pillow, even as he apparently lost his grip on the bottle and sent it rolling on the carpet, spilling its contents. He did not seem to notice though. Rebekah thanked the skies that vampires usually still kept their balance even when wasted or this would have been a lot messier.

"Whatever you say."

She turned back to her screen, scrolling through the webpage of the town, more specifically, the history. No tree though, nothing. She slammed her laptop shut before abandoning it on the couch. She would need to find better sources of information. The Original turned to leave but stopped just before she escaped the room, feeling only a little guilty about leaving her older brother in the lurch. Why did she have to be the only one with half a conscience? Sighing dramatically, she dashed upstairs.

She returned a moment later with thick blankets in her arms as she stomped over to the now-sleeping Klaus. She dumped her baggage on an empty couch before grabbing one and spreading it out over her brother who stirred slightly but was otherwise oblivious to her presence. Rebekah stared at him sleep for a moment before heaving a deep sigh, grabbing the other blanket and trudging over to her previous perch. Draping the sheets over herself, she shifted about until she was reasonably comfortable. A moment of silence passed, then in a whisper that probably only vampires would catch, she spoke.

"Good night, Nik."

* * *

Kol tossed about on the bed, groaning as the springs in the lumpy mattress squeaked in protest. He studied the decor of the hotel room he was in. The walls were lime green with odd splotches of army green, in the shape of what he thought were clover leaves, randomly plastered all over them. There was an extension to the room in the far right corner that led to a tiny restroom and various pieces of furniture that looked like they were made of birch – a study table, a wardrobe, chairs and a lamp that looked antique even to him. The floor was covered in beige ceramic tiles that had all sorts of leaves carved into them. When he had compelled the receptionist downstairs to give him a room that was not too identifiable but reasonable, this was not what he had expected. The wallpaper was disgusting and the furniture looked like they would topple over if he leaned against them a little too hard. And what was with the leaves? Kol heaved a sigh, overwhelmed by the urge to kick the lumpy mattress but squashing it with the far more rational conclusion that if he did, there was a very high chance that the whole bed would collapse. Well, he could always head outside for a snack or compel himself better accommodation but he was beat tired and honestly, feeling pretty lazy. So, heaving a sigh, he flipped around and buried his face in the cushions, trying to get as comfortable as possible whilst blocking out the sounds of the city below. When had the world become so noisy? Or _loud_ for that matter? Kol growled into the cushions before he finally started to drift off, his mind playing back scenes of the bedroom he had occupied in Nik's estate, with its soft, comfortable bed.

* * *

_She was running, her heart pounding in her chest as beads of sweat rolled down her cheeks. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears as she skidded to a stop before turning down into an alley. She paused to catch her breath, listening hard._

_"Where are you going, darling? Marcel won't be happy."_

_She froze, her breathing creeping towards hyperventilation as she slowly turned around. Everything faded to darkness as she heard herself scream._

Lynette bolted upright, panting as her eyes scanned the room. That dream was not new to her but it had taken a new twist tonight. Her usual pursuers had been replaced by her newest acquaintance, one of the Original vampires, Kol Mikaelson. She would have regarded him a friend or at least an ally when she was awake but her sub-conscious was not very trusting it seems. The first rays of sunlight were streaming in through the slits in the curtains and Lynette stared at the light in a daze, trying to calm herself. She had just managed to slow her breathing when a loud knock on her front door startled her, causing her to jump slightly before she could gather herself enough to stumble out of bed and over to the door. When she pushed it open, she started again. Kol was standing on the other side, leaning heavily upon the door post as he lightly tossed her a brown take-away bag.

"Breakfast?"

She almost dropped the bag in horror and slammed the door in his face but held herself back when he rolled his eyes.

"I didn't know you had an innate fear of sandwiches."

"I—"

Lynette stammered, suddenly feeling very stupid. She settled for a quick thanks instead.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh I was in the neighbourhood eating some poor chap when I decided I should swing by," Kol surmised with a smile.

Somehow a part of Lynette knew he was joking but another thought it was real. Kol gave her a look that resembled a preschool teacher trying very hard not to flare up when their charge was particularly slow in understanding a simple concept – like the alphabet.

"You aren't a morning person either, are you? So if you aren't a night person and you aren't a morning person, what are you? Afternoon person?"

"No no, I'm fine. You just scared me a little. That's all."

Kol seemed amused, which might have upset her if not for how jittery she was.

"I'm here for your lesson. Invite me in."

"Lesson?"

"Survival in the Supernatural World 101."

Lynette paused for a moment, before stepping aside.

"You can come in."

Kol smiled at her before crossing the threshold and taking a long look around. Without any indication whatsoever, he charged at her, slamming her into a wall – albeit gentler than the last time he had done that –, baring his fangs and putting a hand to her neck. She gasped but otherwise did not have enough time to respond.

"And just like that darling, you're dead," Kol chirped before releasing her and backing away.

"What?"

"You made no move to make sure I was real, nothing to verify my identity. You aren't the only witch out there Lynette, nor are you the most powerful. It'll be easy to create an illusion that you can't see through."

Kol looked at her pointedly, waiting for the fact to sink in.

"Okay. So what else am I doing wrong?"

Kol smirked, shaking his head.

"You have nothing to defend yourself with. Your house doesn't smell like it has ever seen vervain in its short life and there is a distinct lack of anything pointy."

"We weren't allowed to possess anything that could be used as weapons in the Quarter."

"Well we aren't in the Quarter now are we?"

Lynette sighed, before nodding half-heartedly.

"Very good. Do you at least have your family grimoire?"

Lynette nodded, relieved that she was finally doing something right.

"It's on the shelf over there."

Kol grinned.

"Then let's begin."

* * *

The Mystic Grill was bustling with activity despite the early hour. All around the room, there was the sound of glasses clinking, people gossiping about the town's latest happenings and general activity. Carol Lockwood sat atop one of the bar's high stools and sipped on her drink before she was joined by a familiar tall blonde who proceeded to settle herself next to her.

"Thank you for meeting with me, Mayor. I figured as head of the Preservation Society, you'd be a good person to ask about the oldest trees in this community."

The older – well, physically older anyway – women nodded to herself, setting her glass back upon the smooth countertop.

"A long line of Lockwood women used to keep those records. Back before any of them had actual jobs."

Rebekah smiled at her good-naturedly, getting straight to her point.

"I've been to the Founder's archive, but I can't seem to find any record of the tree I'm looking for."

The mayor shrugged, still appearing to find more interest in her drink than in the topic of the conversation.

"It probably got cut down. Big old trees built half of this town in the 1900s."

The Original was about to probe further when she heard the Grill's door swing open and two extremely familiar scents waft through. She bit back her words.

"Oh, She-Devil at nine o'clock."

Rebekah spun around in her stool, sending Damon a murderous look before diverting her attention back to the Mayor.

"Do you happen to know who kept the milling ledges during that period?"

"Back then all the logging mills were owned by the Salvatores."

The Original took in and then exhaled a deep breath, trying to quash her irritation before swiftly thanking the Mayor and getting up from her seat. Based on what she knew, there were only two Salvatores still alive and they were seated a short distance away from her. Unfortunately for her though, not counting Elena Whiny-as-Hell Gilbert, they also happened to be her least favourite people in the world. Putting on a smile she hoped did not look too false, she sauntered over towards them.

* * *

Lynette gasped, pulling away from the candle she was supposed to light as her eyes fluttered open.

"What was that?"

Kol looked up from the user manual he had been reading, a frown on his features.

"What was what?"

"I thought I felt something. Not from here, outside."

Kol stretched slightly before dragging himself up and over to the only window in the room, pushing the curtain aside.

"There's nothing out there darling, don't scare yourself," Kol droned, stark disinterest laced in his voice.

Lynette remained silent and attempted to get back to work but they both knew she was not buying it. Kol sighed, tossing the manual – for a phone – on the tabletop and pushing the glass window open.

"Okay, what exactly did you feel?"

"There was someone there, definitely supernatural but I don't know what exactly. It did not feel like a vampire or a werewolf despite my limited exposure to the latter, but I just _know_ someone was there," she attempted to explain and realized her failure quite miserably. Kol sighed.

"It was probably just that you aren't used to your new awareness as a witch. A witch's abilities fluctuate greatly in the beginning so I wouldn't find it too surprising if you made some mistakes here and there."

"But I—"

"You should go back to lighting the candle."

Kol turned away from the window, exasperated, but then stopped.

The entire room was lit up. He had randomly placed candles all over the space preparing for harder tasks that they would eventually have to do once she mastered lighting one candle on her own but now, every single one of them was ablaze.

"I'm not lying, Kol. I really felt something," Lynette muttered before turning away from him and heading to the washroom. As she passed, one by one, the candles extinguished and the room fell back into darkness.

* * *

Away in the woods, tucked neatly behind a tree where no one would notice him, a shadow slunk back into the darkness.

* * *

Lynette sat opposite the Original vampire, emotions running sky-high. It had been three hours since her little show with the house full of candles but it appeared she was not having much trouble with the encores since every time she looked at him, she had an absurd urge to punch the guy in the face.

"Odd. You seem to have really got it," Kol, looking bemused, concluded after she had repeated her stunt for the sixteenth time.

"Tell me," he purred, leaning forward toward her, "how did you learn this so fast?"

She grinned, looking down briefly before looking back up at him.

"Oh it was easy. All I had to do was remember my anger and channel it."

"Hmm… And what exactly are you so angry about, darling? And honestly speaking, I would never have thought you were one of those vengeful types."

"Oh it helps that I've been looking at you for the past two hours," she deadpanned, all traces of humour bleached from her voice.

Kol chuckled, shaking his head. He did not seem bothered and this only made the witch more irritated.

"Interesting… Now could you try it without the anger?"

"That could be a little difficult... Would you mind leaving the room?"

Kol grunted before getting up to his feet.

"You know, darling, I usually have a _very_ short fuse. You're lucky that I happen to be in a semi-good mood today."

"Lucky me," Lynette muttered, knowing full well that he could hear her.

She felt rather than saw him move to another room but he left the door open so that he could watch the outcome. Lynette took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she attempted to calm herself. Snippy as she had been, she _was_ curious to see exactly how much she could do without the added boost from strong emotions. The candles had been extinguished before so now she would try to light them, all at once if possible. Witchcraft was more art than skill; one had to find a certain balance within themselves to do a spell right and there was no real way to say how. As she felt the last of her man-made anger dissipate, she focused on the candles, feeling their _presence_ in the room almost and zooming in on it. She thought of what she wanted to happen, visualizing the lighted candles, the illuminated room, and the warmth being sent off the little flames and then waited for half a beat before opening her eyes. The spell had worked, somewhat. Half the candles in the room _had_ lit up, which would already be remarkable improvement as compared to where she was earlier in the day. She was about to seek instruction when Kol's voice tore through the serenity.

"Again."

Lynette sighed, trying to rid herself of her newfound irritation before closing her eyes.

* * *

The sun had dipped past the horizon, its throne in the sky replaced by a waning moon. An entire day had already passed since Kol had began his little lesson and while the Original looked like he could head outside and run a marathon – or maybe three – whilst laughing the whole way, his student was brain-dead.

"Again."

"There is no more 'again'! I can't focus anymore!"

Lynette was really losing it now. After her brief failure with lighting the candles in the afternoon, Kol had pushed her until she had finally succeeded without the help of emotions, the integrity of which he claimed he could tell from her heartbeat and scent. After making her repeat the process twice more, he had promptly declared that she had obtained 'a reasonable grasp' on the basic skill and then proceeded to make her continue repeating it over and over again. He had left briefly to fetch her food both in the afternoon and evening and told her to keep on practicing, once again sending off a quick warning that he would know if she lied. This meant almost fifteen hours of straight brain work with only two thankful, but unfortunately short, pauses in between for her to eat.

Kol remained silent after her outburst. Lynette on the other hand, took it as acknowledgement that she was now free to stop turning the candles on and off and slumped over onto the coffee table, burying her face in the grimoire she had left open, groaning loudly. There was silence for a moment before Kol apparently moved to sit next to her.

"Go away."

The Original chuckled.

"You've made great progress, well done."

Lynette sighed, feeling a little less upset. At the end of the day, he _was_ trying to help her after all. Maybe if they kept going like this, she would be able to defend herself soon.

"You are a psychotic, sadistic teacher, you know that?" Lynette chimed, though the smile she turned and sent him took all the heat out of her words. Kol grinned, as if the title was a grand accomplishment.

"It's getting late and since you're so tired, I'll be going now. Go get some sleep."

Lynette, who had turned back to the grimoire, hummed in acknowledgement. Once again, she felt him rise and head towards the door, using human speed for once. At the very last minute, she turned.

"Hey Kol," she called after him. The Original paused but did not turn.

"Thanks." Half a second of silence passed before he responded.

"My pleasure."

And with that, he disappeared, the door clicking shut behind him.

* * *

The water was running, mixing with the sweet-smelling soap as she mechanically ran a sponge up and down the smooth surface of the ceramic. The plate was clean a long time ago but the brunette needed something to do, something to take her mind off the recent events and the many troubles that they've had to face. Sighing deeply, she finally reached over to the tap and turned it off, her hands wrinkled from leaving them soaked for so long. Placing the dish into its spot on the other side of the kitchen, Elena slowly walked out, heading upstairs. Ever since she had had Damon compel Jeremy away, the house had grown quiet but it was not until recently, when Alaric started to develop an alter ego and decided that he should do the world some good by murdering some council members and vampires – in turn getting him sentenced to isolation treatment – that she really started to feel it. There was a lack of life in the old building, a hollowness that had been growing this whole time, made greater and worse with every memory of the departed that now plagued the halls. Her parents, Jenna even John and Isobel, and now Jeremy and Alaric. She knew that the last two on the list were not exactly departed per se but they felt so far away and the feeling of loneliness that ate at her in these nights was really starting to bother her.

_Jeremy._

The thought of her brother alone in Denver worried her and even more so now that they were suspecting there was apparently a link between homicidal tendencies and the Gilbert ring. Alaric – or the more murderous Alaric, she did not like thinking of them as the same person – had even made a note about him finishing the job should he fail. Elena shuddered inwardly. The day she had watched Jeremy go, she had told herself, even sworn, that she would do everything to make sure her brother was never dragged into this supernatural mess again. She had even made a deal with herself to maintain minimal contact with him. It seemed fate though, had other ideas. As she reached the top of the stairs, she subconsciously patted her pockets, feeling relieved when she felt the bulge of her phone and headed into her room, looking around for a short moment before settling on the windowsill. She paused for a short while before slowly fishing out her phone from her pocket, looking at it contemplatively before flipping it open. She knew she should not be contacting him but she was genuinely worried and besides, what harm could one call do? Dialling the relevant numbers that she believed she could memorise in her sleep, she hit the call button and brought the device up to her ear, trying to keep her emotions in check as she listened to the beeping.

"Hello?"

A husky voice on the other end piped up and Elena smiled. It was so good hearing his voice again. She wanted so much to tell him everything. While Stefan and Damon were always around, there was nothing in the world that could beat the tie there was in family and right now, he was one of the few she had left. She held back though, knowing she had no right to steal his ignorance – and his peace and safety – from him.

"Hey stranger," Elena was surprised how steady her voice sounded and tried to cling onto that. On the other side of the line, she thought she heard Jeremy chuckle.

"Hey, are you checking up on me?"

"Do you need checking up on?" she joked lightly, trying her hardest to sound cheerful. She must have succeeded because Jeremy did not make any move to call her out on it.

"Well, I'm not flunking any of my classes… yet. And I got a dog."

Elena smiled, taking in a deep breath. The more she talked to him, the more she realised exactly how much she had missed him. She could feel a familiar sting in the back of her eyes but she blinked it away. Since she had already called, she might as well give herself a little more peace to sleep at night. After all, she knew that she _had_ to be sure.

"Hey, have you talked to Alaric lately?"

She waited with bated breath as he pondered over the question a little, still trying not to let her emotions show.

"No, why? Is everything okay?"

Elena took another deep breath as relief flooded through her. So he did _not_ know what was happening. The mixture of relief and all the pent-up emotions from the day started to take hold a little and she could feel the tears well up. It would not be long before it would affect her voice and she had to make sure he never heard it. He deserved to have a life, to be safe. It was her mess; she had already gotten enough people involved in it.

"Yeah, everything's fine – um – I just wanted to hear your voice."

She could almost hear him laugh at her about that. Jeremy had never really been one for sentimentalities, especially not around her. But he did not.

"Okay. Hey, can I call you later? I'm actually on my way out with some friends."

She felt somewhat happy that he had provided her with a reason to hang up. As much as she wanted to talk to him, she knew it would do neither of them any good.

"Yeah – um – of course, Jer. Go out, go have fun, and um – I – I just miss you."

She thought she heard her voice break on the last word and was thankful when Jeremy was once again oblivious.

"Yeah. Yeah, I miss you too."

Elena heard the line go dead, her brother's voice replaced by the dull beeping. Finally letting the emotions take her, she felt the tears well up and her vision get blurry. She calmly put the phone down as sobs wrecked her body, the tears now flowing freely. It was all too much to take. But now, at the very least, now, she knew he was safe. She would find time to see him soon, after they had dealt with the overpopulation of Originals in town. Then it would be safe again and he could come back to her.

* * *

The man's limp body dropped to the ground, his killer standing a short distance away, wiping the blood off his lips. He then moved to heave the body off the ground and onto his shoulder, his mind providing him with a suitable location to dispose of him. But no, not yet. First he had to wait for his _other_ target to come into view so he could confirm his sighting. Then, he would be able to report back and he would stop feeling so burdened with purpose anymore. It was tiring carrying out orders, especially from a superior that happened to be as demanding as his. But it was not as if he had much say in the matter. The man leaned over the edge of the rooftop, the distance he was from the ground making it a little difficult for him to see the faces of the people passing. But the superior senses that came with his species prevailed and he spotted his target.

The other man was strolling down the pavement, hands firmly stuffed in the pockets of his leather jacket. He had first spotted him in the morning but he had gone off into some witch's house for the majority of the day so he had allowed himself to wander around somewhat, only checking back occasionally to make sure he was still there. Due to him being in well, a _house_ really, he could not be absolutely sure that he had got the right person and so delayed his report back. Now though, cross-referencing the man's features to those in the picture as well as the description, he was more or less sure. The man below him abruptly paused and he pulled back into the cover of the roof's ledge, pulling out his phone on the way. He typed a quick message and waited for a moment before sneaking a peek back over the ledge. His target had continued walking, heading toward a hotel and then disappearing into it. Packing up his things and hitting send on his phone, he followed after him.

* * *

Kol threw himself onto the bed, groaning. He had forgotten about the horrible accommodations of the hotel and had opened the door only to be disappointed – and disgusted – all over again. He made a mental note, and this time etched it deeper, to get his room changed. He had no idea how long he would have to stay around in town so best to get that problem fixed. Sighing, the Original dragged himself over to the edge of the mattress and grabbed the book he had 'borrowed' from the library. He had gone through most of it the night before and had come up empty but there was no harm in going through it again. He was rather disappointed to be honest but he had not found it surprising that his ex-comrades had put a good deal of effort into covering up their tracks. He would have thought the alternative to be below them. He would head to sleep soon, and maybe tomorrow, grab a quick snack before heading over to Lynette's again. The witch was making remarkable progress for her inexperience and he figured she would be able to defend herself soon. And then there was his mysterious admirer. Kol had felt his presence when he was returning to his room less than an hour ago but was unable to get eyes on him. He was not very bothered by it though. No one in town – vampire or not – would be able to take him on. So he would let the fool live for now and if he happened to leave himself a little too open, it would not take long for the Original to end his miserable existence.

* * *

Klaus stared at the canvas, splotches of varying shades of grey splashed all over it. He sighed and rolled his eyes. While it was fairly good work, the hybrid had to admit that he had lost the mood halfway through after Rebekah had showed up and chided him about still being in the mood to paint when there were stakes that could kill them all over town. After that, whatever it was that his mind had been trying to create quickly turned black. The hybrid abandoned his materials and headed outside to wash up but not before he felt a vibration in his pocket. Wiping his hands clean on a piece of cloth he always kept near his work station, he pulled his phone from his pocket and read the text message. Then, for the first time in this horrid day, he smiled.


	6. Chapter 5: Farewell for Now

**A/N: This website has been giving me so much trouble TT It took forever to get it to let me log in and open all the tabs to upload this. If you guys know what's happening, do tell me :( That aside, here's this week's chapter! :) Hope you enjoy!**

**Thanks to **_pammiie, sarahkitsonx, StormSky, EllenMai, stacyphoenix and PersephoneLovesHades _**for following this story, adding it to your favorites and/or reviewing! :D**

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV series or any of its characters; those belong to the CW network and all other respective owners. This is purely for entertainment._

* * *

_Last time:_

_Klaus stared at the canvas, splotches of varying shades of grey splashed all over it. He sighed and rolled his eyes. While it was fairly good work, the hybrid had to admit that he had lost the mood halfway through after Rebekah had showed up and chided him about still being in the mood to paint when there were stakes that could kill them all over town. After that, whatever it was that his mind had been trying to create quickly turned black. The hybrid abandoned his materials and headed outside to wash up but not before he felt a vibration in his pocket. Wiping his hands clean on a piece of cloth he always kept near his work station, he pulled his phone from his pocket and read the text message. Then, for the first time in this horrid day, he smiled._

* * *

**Chapter 5: Farewell for Now**

_5:47 a.m._

Kol stirred, once again failing to sleep in. He blamed it on the poor accommodation rather than anything else though. Pushing himself up and off the bed, he spared a quick look at the records book he had left on the bedside table and made a mental note to return it. He had gone through the volume twice more the night before, coming up empty, and there was no further meaning in possessing it. Getting up to his feet, he rummaged in his bag for a moment – still left packed at the foot of the bed – and pulled out a clean set of clothes before heading to the washroom to clean up. With personal hygiene out of the way, he packed his things back into the duffel bag and grabbed the book, remembering the promise he had made himself to get his room changed.

A few moments later, Kol arrived at the hotel lobby, still rather uncomfortable with those moving boxes the humans called elevators. Spinning the book in his hand, he approached the lady at the counter, who was sipping on some coffee. It was about an hour before the employees would be switching shifts and the receptionists on duty looked beat.

"My apologies for bothering you at such an hour. I'm the guest from room 1483 and—"

The lady's eyes lit up as she held up a hand to stop him, annoying him slightly.

"Yes, Mister Mikaelson. A man came by a few hours ago and dropped a package off for you. Have you come to receive it?"

Kol frowned, but nodded anyway, his quest to get himself better accommodations slipping from his mind. The lady rose from her seat and disappeared into a room behind the counter for a short while before re-emerging with a small box wrapped in simple brown paper.

"There you go. Anything else I can help you with?"

Kol smiled at her, receiving the parcel and weighing it in his hand.

"Do you know who sent this?"

The lady frowned, as if she had been expecting him to already know.

"No, he didn't leave a name but he said you would know..."

"Okay then that'll be all. Thank you, darling."

He picked up both the book and package and left the hotel, feeling rather confused.

After a quick trip to the library – which required some breaking in – to drop off the book, Kol wandered about, waiting for the time to pass so that he would be able to head to Lynette's house. He was slightly tempted to go knocking on her door despite the early hour but thought better of it. He knew exactly how much he was pushing the witch and there was no reason to rob her of rest. The redhead had already shown that she had quite an attitude and though Kol usually never put up with such things, he had tolerated it on count of his friendship with her ancestor. After all, though Kol was a lot of things, he was not one to go back on his word. And now, even with the little time he had spent with the girl, he had come to like her somewhat. She was feisty. Thinking back to the cold track of his witch friends though, he would now have to find another way to unlink his siblings and him. The idea was not particularly appealing.

The sun was rising now, peeking over the edges of the high rise buildings and colouring the landscape a bright orange. Kol looked at the sun for a moment, suddenly very conscious of the daylight ring he had on his finger. The metal was cool against his skin, something that was caused by the magic in the lapis lazuli stone rather than anything physical. A thought abruptly occurred to him. After all, he was here now so why not?

* * *

Lynette blinked blearily at the light filtering through the gap in the curtains, stretching. She sighed and buried herself back in the sheets, feeling rather lazy. She waited for sleep to come over her again but it did not. Instead, her mind wandered off to Kol and the training she would be having today. While yesterday had been tough, she was thankful for her progress nonetheless. Finally resigned to the fact that she was not going to be able to go back to sleep, she threw the sheets off and climbed out of bed, wondering what Kol had in store for today. She was already looking forward to it.

* * *

The door was surprisingly sturdy for its age and hardly creaked at all when the Original pushed it open. To be honest, he had been sceptical about the place still being there at all, let alone that no one had moved in or that practically everything was the way he remembered it. But it was and the old house was still on its little plot of land and everything – at least of what he had seen – was exactly how he had last seen it. The room that he had walked into was no different, every piece of furniture still in the same spot. What _was_ different though, was that they were all covered up in white sheets, and there was now a thin layer of dust settled on everything. He slowly walked over to what he knew to be the couch and lifted the sheet off of it. The plush cushion, though faded, had survived well the past century, almost as if it had been taken care of. Memories started flooding into his mind as Kol sat down, staring blankly at a painting of Slovakia on the wall before seeming to remember the package he had been carrying around. He tore through the paper and discovered it was in fact a mobile phone, still in its packaging, and after deciding that it was harmless, proceeded to open the box. When it truly did not explode, he probed around in it, unfamiliar with most of its contents. There was an envelope tucked in the package that clearly did not belong but Kol decided to ignore it for now. He spared a brief glance outside and decided it was about time to go over to Lynette's. Replacing the cover over the couch, he slowly walked out of the house, various memories consuming him along the way, before clicking the door shut behind him.

* * *

Lynette could not help but feel just a little pleased with herself when she sensed Kol approaching a few moments before he tapped on the front door. She pushed herself up from where she had been sitting in front of the coffee table, sipping on a hot cup of coffee, and went over. She pulled it open and in the exact same style as yesterday, the Original tossed a brown take-away bag at her and prompted her to let him in. The witch smiled and thanked him for the food before stepping aside. She noted that he was carrying another box that looked suspiciously like one for an iPhone and wondered rather bemusedly where he had gotten it.

"Morning, darling! Today, we shall be working on moving things with your mind. Now invite me in."

Lynette frowned, fiddling with the take-away bag.

"I already invited you in."

"Originals need to be invited in _every_ time they enter an estate."

"No, they – you – don't."

Kol grinned slightly, before stepping right up to the threshold of the house and looking the witch right in the eye.

"Invite me in."

"Is this a test? Because I'm on vervain and everything… Or are you waiting for me to pull out a stake or something?"

Kol chuckled lightly, seemingly amused – or maybe pleased. Lynette could not really tell; the man _always_ looked amused.

"Good. It appears that you have picked up on something since we last met."

Kol then proceeded to step over the threshold and let himself into the hall, proving her statement accurate. Lynette watched him somewhat before following apprehensively, not quite sure what he was going at.

"No need to be so jumpy, darling. I won't bite."

Nodding somewhat she entered into the room and set the bag on the table, pulling out the sandwich that she knew was inside. It appeared that the vampire's understanding of what humans ate for breakfast was fairly limited.

"Where's all the spirit? Yesterday, you were borderline murderous whenever you saw me," Kol teased, throwing himself onto the couch.

"No worries. I'm sure I'll be murderous again sometime soon."

Kol chuckled as he watched her eat before abruptly sitting back up and pulling the iPhone box – which he had tossed onto the table – toward him. Lynette looked up, swallowing a mouthful of lettuce.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Someone left it for me in the hotel I'm currently residing in. Speaking of which, I am pleased to inform you that whatever it was that you felt yesterday is real and has apparently taken an interest in stalking me. Congratulations."

"Damn, now it's going to be even harder to feel homicidal."

Kol smirked, playing with the lid of the box.

"So you know what this is?"

"Yeah, it's an iPhone. It's basically a hand phone – or mobile phone – that lets you serve the internet and download applications which are like games and stuff. It's pretty expensive so your stalker must _really_ like you."

The Original grinned.

"Everyone likes me."

Lynette rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure _of course_ they do."

Kol narrowed his eyes at her, more than familiar with sarcasm despite having been away when it had gotten popular. Lynette smiled innocently at him before taking another bite of the sandwich.

* * *

Finn strolled down the sun-kissed street, quietly musing over how much the world had changed since he had last seen it. It was like he had been transported to another planet: everything he knew had changed; the things he had loved gone. There were so many sights and sounds now, bombarding his senses. He wondered rather bemusedly how any other supernatural creature – with heightened senses like his – could stand it. Out of his control, his thoughts wandered to Sage, the only person he thought could understand him, whom he had loved as a vampire and the only one he had ever turned. He wondered where she was or if she was even still alive. He knew she could be crafty and cunning if she was so forced to but he did not know if it would be enough to escape his brother. After all, very few can safely say that they have at one point or another been hunted by Niklaus and live to tell the tale. And then in true speak-of-the-devil fashion, he picked up his brother's scent just before the hybrid appeared next to him.

"Hello Finn."

"Hello Niklaus. I have nothing to say to you."

Finn continued down the street, his brother trailing after him.

"Well, I'm not here to chat. I will ask you one time though, where's our mother?"

Finn rolled his eyes; apparently the gesture has been widely popularised.

"Gone to find another way to end our abominable lives. And when she does, I'll sacrifice myself all over again," Finn snapped, already growing irritated with his brother's presence. Between Niklaus and Kol, he _really_ did not like spending time with his brothers. At least Elijah still had some semblance of morality left.

"Well, how fortunate that I found you; I require your assistance."

The hybrid, still undeterred, pressed on. Finn felt rage bubble up inside of him but pressed it down. He knew it was more his vampirism talking than anything else and it disgusted him.

"I have no wish to help you, only to see you dead."

"Right, well, that's the thing; you see, you won't be able to see me dead because if I die then you die. So, wish unfulfilled, I'm afraid."

Finn squeezed his eyes shut for a short moment, trying to retain his grip on the situation. Sighing, he attempted to drive the other away.

"Oh bother someone else with your hollowed charms, Niklaus."

"Why? Why not come bother my big brother? I need you to accompany me back to Mystic Falls, I have a witch there who can help undo Esther's spell that linked us together."

"I have no wish to be unlinked."

In a last ditch effort to get his brother off his back, Finn sped up, though still cautious about using vampire speed on an open street. The hybrid's smirk faded as he easily blocked his brother's path, a hand coming up to his chest as a simple but effective warning to stop advancing.

"Again with the wishes," Niklaus spat, "Let me rephrase, you will come back with me or I will put you back in that coffin in which you rotted for nine hundred years."

Finn glared at his younger brother, resisting the urge to growl.

"What happens to me happens to all. You may not feel the effects of the dagger but you'd lose your precious Rebekah."

"Wouldn't be the first time."

Unable to come up with a further retort and seeing no further point to the conversation, Finn slammed his way past the hybrid and stalked off, waiting for a moment to ensure no one was watching before tapping into his true speed and dashing in the opposite direction from where he had left his brother. His escape plan was however, thwarted by the appearance of his only sister.

"Let's not make this any worse than it has to be, darling brother."

Rebekah, a casual smile on her lips, emerged from the other end of the alley, the only evidence of the true danger she posed being the slightest narrowing of her eyes as she slowly moved towards her sibling. Finn, though he knew full well where Rebekah's loyalties lay, felt betrayed.

"You're siding with him? Rebekah, he stored us in boxes!"

His words changed nothing as she continued her advance on him.

"At least he's not trying to make us extinct."

Despite the fact that all the players in the game were Originals and they were supposed to be on par in terms of speed and strength, Finn had to admit rather ashamedly that he would not win in a fight against either of his two siblings, or in fact, _any_ of his siblings. A vampire's, even an Original's, supernatural perks were heavily dependent upon their age and the amount of blood, preferably human, that they have consumed in their lifetimes. And Finn, having had been stored in a box for practically his entire life, was at a fairly severe disadvantage. So he turned, entirely prepared to attempt to outrun his sister before finding himself in what he believed was called a 'pincer attack'.

"What are you gonna do? Kill me?"

Niklaus smirked but it was unlike how someone like Kol, who practically never stopped smirking, would. It was dangerous, rather than taunting or playful, and it promised something bad, _very_ bad.

"Oh yeah, that's right, you've got a death wish. Fine, pathetic, but fine. The thing is, I'm not gonna let you take the rest of us down with you."

With a dangerous glint in his eyes and a throw that Finn had no doubt been used countless times before, the Original hybrid flung him straight into a wall with more force than the latter had ever felt before. The oldest of the trio crumpled to the ground, his vision swimming, before he felt his siblings haul him back to his feet and drag him out of the alley in a way only an Original could.

* * *

Kol watched the rhythmic flashing of the segment of the battery as the phone, plugged in a wall socket – was electricity really that accessible now? – was sluggishly charged. Lynette, seated a short distance from him, played with the pile of leaves that they had gathered for her to use, watching a few of them float and then fall back down again.

"Is there something wrong, darling? You picked up the art of candle lighting remarkably quicker yesterday. Or do you need me to invoke some anger or grief or whatnot?"

Lynette sighed, slamming her hands down on the pile as she watched the leaves fly up for a moment before gravity pulled them down again.

"I don't know. I just feel really out of it for some reason."

"Well, get in it."

"I'm sorry, I don't see you doing anything useful."

"I am assimilating myself into the 21st century. It's plenty useful."

"Assimilating yourself by… watching a phone charge? Yes, that's the _epitome_ of assimilation. You can now go ahead and attend your initiation ceremony with the rest of the vampire population that have missed the past century."

Kol growled, baring his teeth, before he bolted up from where he had been sprawled on the couch and back to his feet.

"Darling, it would do you some good to watch what you say," he hissed. Lynette winced, holding up her hands in surrender.

"Okay okay, chill. Watch the phone charge, whatever. I'll just go drink some tea or something. See if it helps."

Making a quick exit from the room, Lynette disappeared into the kitchen. Kol sighed and slumped back onto the couch, where the contents of the box were spewed all over. He heard the distinct sound of paper crinkling and jerked upright, suddenly remembering the envelope he had found. Finding it easily, he tore it open and was greeted with a single, folded sheet of paper.

_Kol:_

_I regret that I have been reduced to using such a medieval mean to find you but I felt that I could not leave our relationship as it had been before you left. Rebekah and I have tested your theory regarding us being linked together by Esther's spell and it appears that I have wronged you. While I stand by my desire to acquire the doppelganger's blood to create more hybrids, my loyalty still lies in our family and I believe yours do too. I will not attempt to persuade you to return to Mystic Falls but I do hope that we will see one another soon. Our sister and I are now attempting to destroy the spell that binds us and have located Finn. We also regret to inform you that the Gilbert clan have acquired several White Oak stakes but we have been working to dispose of them._

_I hope that this gift can help to mend some of the broken ties between us. You will find my number, as well as Rebekah's, at the bottom of this letter and we will contact you soon._

_P.S. I have kept my promise and I hope this will end whatever grievances that may be left between us._

_Nik_

Kol stared at the paper for a moment before folding it back and returning it to its envelope, stowing the letter in a pocket on the inside of his jacket. He was rather shell-shocked and was caught between laughing and cursing when Lynette emerged from the kitchen.

"Hey, do you want a— What happened to you?"

Kol grinned, his prior, far more nasty mood, having had dissolved rather abruptly.

"Everything is alright, darling. Do you know how to text?"

* * *

Elena stretched her neck to the side, feeling the pull as her muscles burned. The crew had gathered out in the woods earlier in the morning to work on some strategies to kill an Original. The target was pretty flexible considering that they were all linked together and the Salvatores had hence drilled them with various scenarios. While she appreciated everyone's effort in their quest for a world without Klaus, she had to admit that as a human, the training was pretty brutal. Closing her locker, and wondering why she still had to go to school when the entire town's safety lay in the success of them offing the Originals, she sauntered over to her class. Along the way, Matt, the only other human who had participated in the morning drill, caught up to her, a sympathetic smile on his lips.

"How're you feeling?"

"Tired," she grinned, somewhat comforted by his presence. The quarterback shrugged.

"Well we gotta make sure we succeed, right? It's the only way any of us will be safe."

Elena smiled crookedly at him, shifting the books in her arms.

"Hey Matt, thank you for, you know, risking your life for this. I—I know how dangerous this can get and you did not need to come help us."

"Hey, I wanted to help you guys. Caroline and Bonnie are my friends too, you know. And you're my friend. It's the least I could do."

"Thank you."

The two shared one final smile before they parted upon entering the classroom. Elena moved over to the center of the room and sat down, feeling like sleeping more than anything. Caroline, now dressed in a simple denim jacket over a white shirt with jeans, was settled in the seat directly in front of her, her shoulders slumped and her blonde hair slightly knotted at some places. Apparently, even the vampires were finding the training hard.

"Hey Care."

"Oh hey!" Caroline jerked up from where she had been beginning to slouch over the table, "Are you and Matt alright? I think Damon went a little far this time. And it's a school day too. And I have all sorts of things to plan and cheerleading later. Arghh, I just want to sleep."

Elena chuckled, amused by her best friend. She reached over and ran a hand through Caroline's hair, untangling a few of the more prominent knots.

"I thought you big old vampires did not need to sleep?"

"Hey, don't go calling me old! We're the same age you know! And yes Elena, we _do_ need to sleep."

Caroline rolled her eyes before abruptly turning to the door, her eyes narrowed.

"What's wrong?"

"Is there someone new in school?"

"What?"

At that exact moment, a petite girl that neither of them recognised strolled in. Her hazel hair was tied up in a tight ponytail, forming waves at the end. She had a sea blue hoodie on, the sleeves running all the way to her wrists. She cast a look over the room before strolling over to a seat to the left of Matt, her sneakers making little noise.

"Who's she?" Caroline mused. It was rare for her not to know anything that happened around the school.

"A transfer probably. Why? You want her on your cheerleading team?" Elena teased, grinning.

"I do not! Doesn't matter though, we have more important things to worry about. I have no time to be running publicity for cheerleading. Though I would not mind if you came back."

"Care…"

Their conversation was cut short when the teacher, Mr Smith, strolled in; haphazardly pushing his glasses higher up his nose before dumping his books on the table. Elena cast a quick glance over at Matt, who had turned to talk to the new girl. She would catch up with him later.

* * *

"So her name's Jennel?" Caroline confirmed, swiftly avoiding a group of students passing by without bothering to look up.

"Yeah, she transferred from Ohio. Said her parents had to move for work and they wanted her somewhere quiet. She just moved into town."

"Quiet?" Elena almost scoffed. It seemed hardly the best word to describe Mystic Falls at the moment.

The trio pushed the doors to the cafeteria open, the sounds and scents hitting them in a wave. Bonnie had not returned to school ever since her mum was forced into transition and Stefan, since he did not actually have a need to graduate unlike the rest of them, had skipped class to continue working out the kinks of their plan with Damon as well as to make sure Alaric stayed Alaric. They spotted the new girl sitting alone in a corner of the cafeteria, casually munching on some chips from a bag she must have smuggled in and watching the world around her in a way that could only be called disinterested. She was sub-consciously spinning a pen in her other hand, not once bothering to look at it.

"Think we should go say 'hi'?"

"Sure, why not?" Caroline, having had returned to her usual bubbly self as the day had gone on, flashed them both a grin before leading the way to the table. The girl looked up before they arrived, Caroline immediately taking the seat opposite from her.

"Hi! So Matt over there was just telling us about you."

"Oh was he now?" She smiled crookedly, her hand hovering over the bag.

Matt, who was starting to look slightly awkward, settled down on the seat to Caroline's right as Elena took the seat on the left. Jennel shifted, leaning back against the wall.

"So, are you fitting in well?" Elena asked, trying to break the ice.

"So-so. I move around a lot so I'm pretty used to it. You're Elena Gilbert right? And you," Jennel turned her gaze upon Caroline, "must be Caroline Forbes." She smiled, popping a chip in her mouth.

Caroline sent Matt a sidelong look but the quarterback just shrugged. Jennel laughed.

"No need to worry, I did my homework before coming here, since apparently I'll be staying awhile."

Caroline grinned.

"Well I guess we'll be seeing you around. We have some plans on this week but if you want to hang out or just have someone show you around town then feel free to call us."

Jennel grinned, her hand disappearing into the bag of chips again before nodding.

"Sure, thanks for the offer. I'll actually be gone for the rest of the week, this was kind of a getting-to-know-the-place kind of a trip. I still need to deal with some paperwork and stuff but I'll make sure to call you once I get back."

Caroline smiled and passed her a small slip of paper with her number on it before the trio took off. Jennel watched them, a smirk forming on her lips as she reached her hand back into the bag.

* * *

Klaus tightened his grip on his brother's collar before shifting his weight and practically throwing him into the foyer. The older Original rolled on the ground before shakily getting back up. His assailants stalked in after him, slamming the door shut behind them.

"Gather your witch. Let's get his blood and get on with it," Rebekah hissed, circling the two like a hawk.

"You can't force me to help you," Finn huffed, feeling his ribs heal from the less-than-gentle throw.

"Oh, I most likely could. But why force when I can persuade?" Niklaus grinned, looking like he knew something that his brother did not.

In a flippant gesture, he pointed to the top of the grand staircase where a familiar scent wafted through. _But it could not be…_

"Hello Finn."

It was like everything inside of him had frozen, or rather melted. All the resolve he had had about ending the vampire species, all the hate he had bottled up against his brother, _everything_, just like that, gone.

"Sage."

Sage smiled, and Finn rushed up to greet her, the two meeting in an embrace.

"What do you know? True love prevails."

Niklaus grinned, an odd sense of pride coming over him since it had originally been Rebekah's idea – after she saw Sage wandering around in town – to use her to coerce their eldest brother into cooperating. He turned away from them when he felt a vibration in his pocket and fished his phone out, unlocking the screen.

"_Let me know when I'm needed."_

The hybrid grinned, turning back to his sister.

"It does occasionally have its uses."

Tapping the text box, he scribbled a quick _"I will" _before sliding his phone back into his pocket.

* * *

Kol smirked, putting his phone away before turning back to Lynette. The pile of leaves was hovering precariously in the air now, playing with an invisible wind.

"Finally."

She narrowed her eyes at him, scowling.

"Hey! I spent half the afternoon teaching you how to text and call. It's hardly my fault that this took so long."

Kol waved the remark away.

"By the end of today, I will throw something pointy at you and you are going to catch it with your mind. Got it?"

Lynette gaped, half of the leaves dropping for dramatic effect.

"And if I _fail_ to catch it?"

Kol shrugged, seemingly unbothered.

"Well, that's nice."

Kol chuckled to himself, before picking up vibrations from his phone. That was fast_._ He rolled his eyes.

"_Well actually, there __**is**__ a little something I need you to do. First of all, the unbinding spell is going to need some of your blood and secondly, there is a little someone in Denver that I would like you to help me keep an eye on. All for the sake of blackmail of course."_

Kol was just about to ask _how_ exactly his brother expected him to have his blood sent to Mystic Falls when there were three loud knocks on the door.

"Are you expecting anyone?"

Lynette shook her head, getting up to her feet. Kol followed suit before motioning to the witch to stay behind him and stalking over to the door. He waited a moment, listening, before pulling the door open.

The man on the other side looked up when the door opened but hardly had any time to react before he was grabbed and sped down the side of the house, straight into the backyard. Lynette ran after them. Kol bared his fangs at the intruder, slamming him against the wooden fence. The man writhed uncomfortably.

"Kol Mikaelson, pleasure," he greeted.

"Stalker. What do you want?"

"I was sent by your brother. I'm one of his hybrids," the man grimaced, less than happy about his title.

Kol pulled away slightly, retracting his fangs as he listened to his prey's heartbeat to confirm his claim. Lynette skidded to a stop behind him, panting.

"Didn't I tell you to stay inside?"

"No, you told me to stay behind you."

Kol rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to his catch.

"Very well then hybrid, why have you been following me?" Kol tightened his grip on the younger man's neck.

"A few of us were sent to find you and your other brothers. I just happened to come to New Orleans. I've been told to get some of your blood for an unbinding spell. Is that good enough for you?"

Kol released him and the man fell, landing on his feet.

"Very well then. I'll be giving you some blood then you can go on your merry way and I better not see you again."

The hybrid looked like he was about to retort but thought better of it. Kol on the other hand, grabbed Lynette and went back into the house. Once they had crossed the threshold, he turned back.

"Do you have a vial or a bottle of some sort? And just how much does my brother need?"

The hybrid returned to the porch in a second, rubbing his neck.

"Here," he stated, pulling a small glass bottle that had Nik written all over it by how _designed_ it was and handed it over.

"He said he does not need a lot but I don't know," the hybrid shrugged.

Kol unscrewed the cap and left it on the stand nearby before shifting the glass over to his left hand and biting rather nonchalantly into his wrist. Blood immediately seeped from the wound and the Original filled about half the bottle before the wound healed up and he screwed the cap back on.

"Here. And just out of curiosity, whose neck does my brother need me to breathe down on?"

The hybrid pocketed the bottle and shrugged.

"I heard it was Jeremy Gilbert, the brother of the doppelganger. He'd gone missing from Mystic Falls and Klaus only tracked him down recently, something about a phone call. I'm not all that sure about the specifics though. I wasn't told much."

"Very well then. How long does it take to get to Denver?"

"If you go by plane, then less than three hours."

"Plane? Those are commercialized now?"

Lynette piped up from where she was in the sitting room.

"Yes Kol. Maybe I should go with you to the airport before you eat the ticketing agent."

Kol smirked but then shook his head.

"Then what are we to do about your training?"

"I think I can—"

Quite abruptly, Kol flung a fork that he had obtained who-knows-when at her, eliciting a loud, ear-piercing shriek before she managed to stop it, mere inches from her face.

"I suppose you can handle your training on your own."

Lynette looked up at him, eyes wide before the fork clattered to the floor.

"Are you crazy?! That could have killed me!"

Kol laughed.

"I would not have let it get that far. I _am_ faster than what I throw after all. I just needed you to believe that it would kill you."

Lynette glared at him, picking up the fork before storming into the kitchen. Kol turned back to the hybrid.

"She has quite a temper doesn't she?"

The hybrid cleared his throat, obviously uncomfortable.

"Well, since my friend here appears more than capable of training herself, than I guess that we should be going now."

* * *

After gathering all of Kol's things from both his hotel room – oh how he was relieved to finally get out of there – and Lynette's house, the trio, including the hybrid who had volunteered to bring Lynette back to her house just in case, caught a cab and headed to the nearest airport. Lynette helped Kol check in with a ticket he did not have – some compulsion and tinkering were involved – and they all settled down in a fast-food place to wait for the flight to depart.

"So, tell me again when people decided they should try and fly?"

"I don't know the exact date or anything but I guess it started with the Wright brothers. Didn't you like know them or something like that?"

Kol rolled his eyes.

"Just because I was around when they were alive doesn't automatically make us friends, darling. And where did that hybrid go?"

"I don't know. But he'll probably be back soon. You should learn to be a little nicer to people, you know. I mean, he did volunteer to make sure I got home safe before he heads back to find your brother. He can't be that bad."

"Indeed, what a gentleman," Kol deadpanned.

Lynette chose to ignore the remark and nibbled on a fry. Interestingly enough, Kol had gotten himself a meal as well. He did not seem particularly pleased with it though. Lynette decided to change the topic.

"So when did vampires decide to eat people food?"

Kol looked down at his more or less untouched meal and snorted.

"We've always been able to eat human food. It's just that not a lot of us continued to. It holds no practical purpose other than to subdue cravings to a lesser extent; alcohol is always better."

"So are you feeling like eating someone and desperately trying not to right now?"

Kol choked on the soda he had been sipping on.

"I am more than a thousand years old, darling. I have more than enough control over my hunger and I don't get 'desperate'." He used the word like it was particularly revolting to him.

"So why _are_ you eating?"

Kol shrugged, picking at his burger.

"Curiosity I suppose."

Over the speakers, a lady announced that Kol's flight was now open for boarding.

"Guess that's my cue."

The two of them got up from where they had been sitting and strolled over to the boarding gate. Halfway there, the wayward hybrid returned. Kol smiled.

"Someone's been hungry."

Both Lynette and the man turned towards him, the former looking confused and the latter flabbergasted.

"Calm down, no one's judging," Kol snickered.

Lynette apparently caught on and no one bothered to further comment. Just before boarding though, Kol turned back to his student.

"Remember to keep training. You should be able to keep up the pace on your own."

Lynette smiled.

"Sure I will."

"I'll know if you lie"

"So you're going to come back to check if I'm lying?"

Kol grinned, his eyes twinkling.

"Sure I will, it's always nice to have a friendly neighbourhood witch."

"See you then."

"See you."

Kol then easily swung all his bags over his shoulder and headed towards the gate.

A short moment passed then Lynette suddenly thought of something.

"Hey Kol!" the witch yelled, prompting the Original to turn back around.

"Thanks." She did not bother yelling this time, knowing that he could hear her. He smiled before disappearing behind the gantry.


	7. Chapter 6: Denver Days

**A/N: So... chapter for the week? ;) I honestly think I was on crack while writing this and it's definitely a lot lighter in some parts than most chapters before as well as in the future but I like Jeremy/Kol friendship so TADAAA!~ Anyways, hope you guys like it :) Oh and while I have committed myself to minimizing canon content, this one has a little more thanks to Finn. Forgive me for giving that poor guy some extra screen/page time? Seriously, comatose for 900 years just to die :( Oh and small side note, you guys can start counting down to the end of Part I (i.e. canon). Three more chapters to go! :)**

**Big big thanks to all you have reviewed, followed and put this story on their favorites list! You guys are the only reason I'm still uploading (other than the fact that this story won't leave me alone of course but that only keeps me writing :) ): **_maddysavage, LittleSlayer123, An Amber Pen, sarahkitsonx, Karen and Millenia-the-wings-of-valmar. _**Hugs to you all! :D**

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV series or any of its characters; those belong to the CW network and all other respective owners. This is purely for entertainment._

* * *

_Last time:_

_Kol grinned, his eyes twinkling._

_"Sure I will, it's always nice to have a friendly neighbourhood witch."_

_"See you then."_

_"See you."_

_Kol then easily swung all his bags over his shoulder and headed towards the gate._

_A short moment passed then Lynette suddenly thought of something._

_"Hey Kol!" the witch yelled, prompting the Original to turn back around._

_"Thanks." She did not bother yelling this time, knowing that he could hear her. He smiled before disappearing behind the gantry._

* * *

**Chapter 6: Denver Days**

The plane ride was _horrible_.

When the vehicle had apparently taken off, the pressure change caused an absolutely hideous pain in the Original's ears. When he had attempted to compel an explanation from the air stewardess, she had told him that it was normal and would go away after a while. But apparently, the Wright brothers or whoever, had not taken supernatural hearing and in turn, sensitivity, into account and while some experience what the stewardess brushed off as "slight discomfort", it was full-blown painful to him. And then there was the rule about staying in your seat as much as possible. Maybe humans had no qualms about sitting in a fixed position for two and a half hours but he did and sitting in a tiny cabin with a bunch of humans with nothing better to do than listen to their heartbeats and wonder what would happen if he murdered everyone onboard was doing nothing good for the Original vampire. And then when he had thought that the torture was over, the plane started _descending_ and if he had thought the pain before was bad, someone might as well have been driving a nail into his head. Lucky for him, and mostly everyone else on board, he healed quickly. The only thing that came to mind after he had alighted from what he had affectionately dubbed "the Wright torture device", was that he should have ran. Sure it would have been tiring and depending on his route, may have taken longer, but still, he _should have ran_.

After collecting his things, he exited the air-conditioned airport and looked around, trying to find his bearings. This was not the first time Kol had been to Denver but it certainly did not look the same. He checked the map Nik had sent him and compelled himself a ride to the address. As it turned out, it led to a family home, supposedly belonging to the Miller family according to none other than their _mailbox_. Kol was really beginning to question the human intelligence. The estate stunk of vervain so after some lurking and deciding rather dejectedly that no one was home, he started circling outward from the house, hoping this Jeremy person had not gone far. He eventually found himself in a park and was wandering rather aimlessly when a fairly large dog that Kol figured was a golden retriever or at least mostly retriever, bounded up to him, tongue sticking out of its mouth in a loopy grin. Kol stared at the over-grown teddy bear, suddenly filled with an urge to pet it. He liked dogs.

"Hey, Max! Get back here!"

The dog or puppy, considering how fast retrievers grew, turned its brick-sized head back towards its owner and barked but otherwise did not bother to respond. Kol frowned, perplexed as to why the dog seemed so interested in him. The canine turned back to look at the vampire, tilting its head to one side in a way that even the Original could not deny was cute. It sniffed his hand for a moment before leaning back and sitting down on the grass, looking up at him as if his presence was something it could not understand. Then it dawned on him; the damn dog knew he was a vampire. _What the hell?_ Max's owner finally caught up to them, panting slightly. Kol was about to start one of those I'm-a-friendly-stranger-but-we'll-probably-never-see-each-other-again-anyway conversations or perhaps, eat him when he got a good look and almost burst out laughing. It was unmistakable; it was Jeremy freaking Gilbert. What were the odds?

"Hey, sorry man," Jeremy, completely oblivious to the danger in front of him, greeted before bending over to ruffle his friend's golden fur. "He's a complete doof, always running up to strangers."

The dog licked its owner's cheek before turning back to Kol, still appearing to study the vampire. Kol narrowed his eyes, as if daring the animal to tell on him.

"No, don't mention it. I don't mind."

"Hey you come to the park often? Never saw you around here before."

Kol grinned, maybe the animal was doing him more of a favour than he had thought. It was a pity that he was going to have to kill its owner though, that was if Nik wanted him to.

"No, I just moved here not too long ago."

"Well, nice to meet you."

Jeremy smiled, getting back up to his feet and tugging at Max's collar a little. He paused then and turned back.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"Kol," the Original replied carefully, leaving out his family name just in case.

"I'm Jeremy, well I'll be seeing you around." Jeremy waved, grinning as he shoved Max in the opposite direction, the latter bounding off like a freight train. Kol watched them leave before pulling out his phone and texting Nik. Once that was done with, he slowly followed after them, already having memorised Jeremy – and rather awkwardly, Max's – scent.

* * *

Klaus grinned at the message, shoving his phone back into his pocket before pushing the double doors open, stalking over to the witch.

"Tick tock. I should hear chanting by now."

The witch did not even bother to look up from the grimoire, her features furrowed in concentration, or maybe, frustration.

"I'm still studying the unlinking spell. It's not easy, especially under duress."

The hybrid circled her, feeling the need to give the witch some warning – or maybe, some incentive.

"You've been warned; if you're looking for a way to send for help, I will kill anyone who comes to your rescue."

Bonnie frowned, never one to take threats quietly.

"This is the spell," she spat, "I just don't know if I'm strong enough."

Unable to tolerate her captor's incessant hovering, she stood up and moved away from him, reminding herself to keep her posture straight, hiding any signs of fear.

"Then you should have a little more faith in yourself, Bonnie." Klaus grinned, showing his teeth, before stepping forward towards her. "Your energy helped my mother link us. Honestly, I think someone isn't trying very hard." Klaus surmised, not showing any signs of rage though it was obvious he was upset. He waited a beat before looking up at her again.

"Very well," he pulled out his phone from his pocket and unlocked it before dialling a memorised number.

"Kol. How's the weather up there in Mile High City?"

"_Well it took you long enough. It's lovely, Nik. Maybe you should abandon your exploits in Mystic Falls and come terrorise here instead."_

"And how's our friend?"

"_Playing with his dog. You could have given me a heads-up though. Plane rides are nasty."_

Klaus grinned, but stayed determined in making his point to Bonnie.

"May I see him?"

"_Oh so there's someone you're trying to blackmail I see. And I had thought that you had called me just because you missed me. What a shame. Hold up a moment, I'm still not very good with this…"_

The hybrid quietly listened to Kol tinkering with his phone before he heard a triumphant "there!" and held his phone up to look at the screen. After the camera on the other side swerved a bit, it steadied on a clear shot of the younger Gilbert, waving a toy in front of a retriever. The dog was watching the object intently, wagging its tail. Klaus grinned and walked over to the witch, holding up his phone so she could get a good look just as Jeremy sent the toy flying through the air. He noticed her heart beat and breathing rate speed up significantly and could not help but feel a little pleased with himself.

"There's Jeremy, playing fetch with his new puppy. Oh, isn't that just the most adorable thing you've ever seen?"

Pulling the phone away before the video show lost its purpose, Klaus brought it back up to his ear.

"Thank you, Kol. We'll be in touch."

"_Yeah sure, whatever. So am I supposed to kill him? You know what? I'll just text you; wouldn't want to ruin your fun. Happy blackmailing!"_ Kol chanted in a sing-song voice before the line went dead. Klaus returned the device to his pocket before approaching Bonnie again, a look of terror on her face.

"So, Bonnie, how 'bout that spell?"

* * *

Kol typed in a quick text message before hitting 'send' and pulling back into the cover of the trees, away from Jeremy and Max. He was getting hungry to be honest; it had been quite a while since he had last fed properly and the Original was seldom in a position to exercise restraint. He never thought there was a real need to. Trailing away from his mark, he wandered about before deciding on hitting a bar. In Denver apparently, it was not difficult to find one.

Bars were where people met, caught up with some old friends, grabbed a drink whilst attempting to hide their age, and dance the night away. But for Kol, and most probably the majority of the self-respecting vampire population that continued to embrace the thrill of a kill, it was the perfect hunting ground, where there are no qualms about leaving with a random stranger, where dropping dead in the center of the room was probably just because someone had a little too much to drink and where one could pretty much do anything without anyone bothering to give you a second glance.

And he loved it.

The Original sauntered up to the door with a giant welcome sign and pushed it open. The day had been a long one and the sun was now dipping past the horizon, but for him, it was just beginning. Throwing a brief glance over the room to get an idea of where all the potential targets would be, Kol made a beeline for the counter and ordered himself a drink, compelling his way out of needing to show his ID. Content with simply watching the bartender for now, he waited for his prey to start flocking in. It did not take long – just about two bottles of bourbon or so – before the previously quiet room was packed with bodies. Someone was playing some tunes over the speaker and that, coupled with the loud cheering and clinking of glasses drowned out almost all other noises. A petite blonde with wavy hair took the seat next to Kol, her cheeks flushed. She was clad in a low v-neck and beige jacket as well as a pair of shorts that stopped a little above mid-thigh and heels so high that Kol thought should have already broken her ankles.

"Hello darling. May I buy you a drink?"

The woman turned about rather unsteadily in her seat, a smile playing on her blood red lips.

"Sure stranger."

She bat her eyelashes at him and Kol smiled back, compelling the bartender.

"May I interest you in anything else?" he teased, a smirk on his lips.

The lady leaned over, wobbling slightly. Kol breathed in her scent. It was artificial thanks to the amount of perfume that she had probably sprayed all over herself but he could still smell the blood, hear her erratic heartbeat. He growled. Apparently, her muddled brain took this as an encouragement. The lady swung both her arms up around the vampire's neck, hopping off her seat to move closer to him. Her balance apparently caved and she collapsed into the Original, giggling.

"Careful darling, you don't want to hurt yourself."

Kol smiled, leaning in towards her and bringing her lips to her neck. But it quickly turned lethal as he let his hunger take over and sunk his fangs right through the skin into the supple flesh, drawing blood. The woman gasped, groaning before attempting to push him away from her. Her struggles were futile though as he sapped her of her strength, eventually dying out before she collapsed, pale as a sheet. Kol roughly pushed her back onto her seat, her body leaning forward onto the countertop in a crude impression of someone who had passed out drunk. The bartender returned with the drink in hand, his eyes clouded over and unfocused. He would not tell on him. Kol thanked the man before grabbing the glass and heading towards a redhead on the other side of the room.

* * *

Jeremy ran a hand through his cropped hair, shifting the weight of his bag on his shoulder. He felt a light tap on his back and grinned, swerving around to come face to face with his friend Andrew.

"Hey man, what's up?"

Andrew was a bit of a recluse but it was not that he was unfriendly; Jeremy often thought that he was one of his best friends here in Denver. He was a bit of a nerd though, with a pair of thick-rimmed spectacles that were often seen peeking over the edges of a thick volume in the library.

"Good morning Jeremy! Have you heard the news? It's tragic really. That bar that Ryan and his crew like to hang out in was burned down yesterday. Twelve people went down with it. The police think it was arson."

That was the thing about Andrew, he did not say 'about ten people' or 'quite a few people'; he gave you a specific number.

"Did Ryan and his crew get burned down too?" Jeremy joked, never having liked the residential jerk.

"No no, why would you say that?"

As if on cue, Ryan strolled past them, laughing with his bunch of friends before rather deliberately slamming into Andrew's shoulder. The latter lost his grip on his books as they spewed onto the floor.

"Ooops. Sorry about that nerd-brain! Didn't see you there."

The gang then proceeded to burst out laughing as their leader gave a mock-salute to the pair before the group headed into the building.

"That's why." Jeremy murmured before bending over to help his friend with his things. He looked up to find himself staring at a pair of combat boots.

"Hello Jeremy, fancy seeing you here."

"Kol?"

The teenager wondered aloud before getting back up to his feet, handing Andrew his things. He hurriedly shoved most of them into his bag, looking a little flustered.

"Yes, the one and only."

"Wow, I never thought I'd see you again."

The Original put a hand over his heart, wincing.

"Ouch. Did I really make such a nasty first impression?"

"No no, I mean… Wow."

"Well, I recently transferred here from my home in… Montana. So you'll probably be seeing quite a lot of me I'm afraid."

Jeremy grinned.

"No no, that's great. But doesn't Montana have lots of fields and farms? No wonder Max likes you so much."

"Well actually it does," the Original shrugged nonchalantly. In all honesty, he had not been to Montana in over three centuries, only having had been there once a long time ago and only staying a short while. He only had a vague impression that it was a mountainous region – desolate – which he had thought would be a good cover story. Andrew, adjusting his glasses a little, scowled.

"Hi, I'm Andrew. Err… no offence but if you were born in Montana then why do you have an accent?"

Kol chuckled.

"None taken, mate. It runs in the family. My parents were not originally from America; they moved here only a short while before my oldest brother was born." There. And he was not even lying.

"Cool. Well we need to get to class so we'll see you around, Kol!" Jeremy announced, patting his new friend on the shoulder before he disappeared into the building with Andrew. Kol stayed rooted to his spot and listened in to their conversation. Apparently neither of them had thought there was anything wrong with him. Kol smirked lightly to himself before reluctantly heading off to his own class.

* * *

Matt wandered around the Grill, handing drinks out to the customers even as he fought the tight feeling in his chest. They were acting soon, and apparently, after arriving here for his shift after his brief meeting with Caroline and Elena, their newest target was Finn, the longest daggered Original. He could not help but feel the nerves creep up on him though. Finn Mikaelson, despite how much more vulnerable he was compared to his siblings was not exactly alone and he remembered the last time they had tried to fight an Original. They were probably still alive only because Elijah had half a good conscience. The blonde quarterback wandered around his side of the Grill before Jennel stalked in, a smile on her face.

"Hey, Matt."

Matt smiled back at her, pushing his nerves to the side for a moment.

"Aren't you too young to be drinking?"

The brunette shrugged, sitting down on one of the stools.

"Well, I don't think so."

Matt glanced around before shaking his head and Jennel rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on, half the people in here are underage and I'm pretty sure most of them are even younger than I am."

Still, Matt refused to relent.

"Nope, I'll help who I can. And besides, I thought you said you were skipping town."

Jennel snorted, reaching into her bag.

"I'm leaving soon. Just wanted to wander around town a little, get to know more people… By the way, I heard there were a string of murders recently. Care to shed some light on that?"

Matt shifted uncomfortably as Jennel watched him, pulling a map out from her bag.

"Err, we aren't entirely sure about that; the killer's still on the loose. We'll probably just find a bear or something anyway. There've been quite a lot of animal attacks recently."

Jennel shrugged, seemingly unbothered by the new revelation.

"Okay then, I'll take note to stay out of the woods. Speaking of which, I just wanted to ask what this is," she stated, pointing to a spot on the map, "I've been wandering around town following this and that particular spot is a little out of reach."

Matt looked at the paper over her shoulder, recognising the place immediately.

"That's the Mikaelson mansion."

"Mikaelson? So it's a family home?"

Matt nodded.

"Klaus and Rebekah Mikaelson live there. You may see Rebekah around; she goes to our school."

Jennel nodded, pursing her lips for a moment before shoving the map back in her bag.

"Well, since you're so insistent on me not drinking," she teased lightly, "I guess I'll just be leaving then, best deal with everything out of town before I get back here."

Matt nodded, waving the brunette off as she exited the bar, pulling the hood of her jacket over her head. Less than a minute later, Stefan strolled in, looking extremely tense. Matt strolled over to him, a questioning look on his features. The vampire turned towards him for a moment before whispering into his ear.

"Get ready."

Detaching himself from the situation, Stefan casually strolled over to the bar countertop before settling down, ordering himself a drink from the server. Matt moved away from the door and continued working, half his mind going through all the scenarios they had ran once more as Finn Mikaelson strolled into the bar, a redhead following after him.

* * *

Kol dragged his feet out of the school compound, feeling a dull throb in his head. The Original had been alive for more than a thousand years; he had thought that there was _nothing_ about the world that school could possibly teach. He had lived the history, he had walked the geography, he was there when the books in Literature were written and when their respective plays gained and lost their popularity. He was around before and after the many theories of their now renowned scientists were made, rejected and then understood. Whatcould possibly faze someone who had lived that long a time? But apparently, it had not taken long for him to come to the disheartening conclusion that he did not understand a single thing any of the teachers were saying. And while there was no practical purpose of him needing to understand anything other than how to lure and kill prey, he had tried and now, all he had gotten for his efforts was a nasty headache that was refusing to leave him alone. Time had slowed down to a crawl in the classroom and Kol felt like he had not been out in the open for half a century and most of all, he felt _drained_. And this was coming from someone that had just fed, and fed _a lot_, the night before. By the time he got to the parking lot, he had already decided that he would not be attending anymore school. Pretend to attend, sure. But no more sitting in a tiny room listening to different people drawl on and on about things he did not care about for six hours.

"Hey, Kol!" The already familiar voice of Jeremy Gilbert tore through the small field between them, the Original swivelling around to greet him. The teenager was alone this time, Andrew being nowhere in sight.

"Jeremy! Good to see you, mate."

"Hey you wanna hang out? We could go to my house, play some video games?"

Kol grinned though he had no idea what video games were. But it was an opportunity to get into the boy's house nonetheless, and he was not about to let that pass him by.

"Sure."

* * *

"So, you've never had tequila before?" Sage asked, incredulous. She had not been entirely sure about when tequila had gotten popular. She knew she was there but she could not really remember the _when_. And her being there when something got invented was not narrowing the time frame very much.

"Mm-mm." Finn shook his head, examining the shot glass.

The younger vampire grabbed the salt from the table and poured some on Finn's wrist, before doing the same on her own. Keeping his gaze, she proceeded to demonstrate licking the salt off her own wrist and then swallowing the shot. Finn watched her with raised eyebrows before copying with his own salt and drink.

"Happy now?"

Sage grinned before reaching over the table and grabbing a lime, passing the fruit to him. He shrugged and sucked on it for a moment before speaking again.

"I am truly awed by the evolution of mankind."

Sage laughed, eager to show him exactly how much mankind had evolved when a familiar scent wafted in through the double doors. A stocky man with tousled golden hair sauntered in, clad in a black leather jacket. He paused when he reached Sage's table, a friendly smile on his lips.

"Hey Sage."

"Hey Troy."

The newcomer easily detected that he was intruding and nodded at Finn before leaving.

"You know him?" Finn asked in what he had hoped was a casual manner. He did not like feeling possessive but the truth was that he was feeling a little betrayed.

"I turned him," Sage replied, indifferent. She continued with another shot.

"You turned him? Why?" The Original was feeling a little indignant now. To him, turning someone was special, a sign that you wanted to be with the other person and were unwilling to let them fall away with age and time.

"Because I'm in enemy territory," she deadpanned, enunciating every syllable clearly. They were together for a reason; she could read the Original as easily as she could a book and she knew he was getting angry or at the very least, upset. "When your brother and sister called, I thought I might need a little backup. You can't trust anyone here." The vampire broke off when she felt a waiter approaching their table. With lightning speed, she reached up and grabbed his wrist, hearing his heartbeat pick up.

"Two more tequilas?"

The waiter, whose nametag read 'Matt' nodded, his heart rate still abnormally high. It roused the predatory instinct in her.

"Yeah, cool, I'll let your waitress know."

Sage smiled coolly in thanks before turning back to Finn, who still looked a little grumpy. Meanwhile, Matt headed over to the counter and snagged the offered bottle of vervain before disappearing to the back to get some drinks.

* * *

Kol was lounged on the couch, a Play Station 3 controller in one hand and a can of cheap beer in the other. He had discovered after entering the property that the vervain was only growing on the yards and the Millers probably just took them for wild plants, rather than the only defence they had if a vampire decided to compel them. He had gotten Jeremy to say the magic words and let him in much easier than he had thought. The two, despite having had decided to play video games on the way here, had spent the better part of the afternoon on a computer when Kol had sheepishly admitted that he did not know how to use one, shrugging and then silently apologizing to the people of Montana that he was using his so-called upbringing to justify his ignorance of technology. Jeremy had then spent the entire day teaching the Original about computers and the internet and Kol had to admit, he was a good kid. Said kid was now nestled on the couch next to him, fiddling with the right analog stick of his own controller.

"Okay okay, that should do it," Jeremy declared, finally exiting the options menu.

Kol put his can onto the coffee table, heaving a sigh.

"Finally, I thought you would _never_ make up your mind."

"Okay sorry! You remember how to shoot right? Aim with L1, fire with R1? Adjust the aim with the analog stick?"

"Yes Jeremy," Kol drawled, rolling his eyes.

"Okay! Let's kill some zombies!"

Lying on its stomach a short distance away, Max raised its head and barked, as if it were responding to Jeremy's war cry. The two of them were playing the Mercenaries mode on 'Resident Evil 5' since neither of them wanted to be the female character on the story.

"You know, you're actually pretty good at this game," Jeremy commented lightly as he fired three magnum rounds at the Executioner, watching it drop to the ground. Kol shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm a fast learner."

Jeremy spared a quick glance at the window the couch was set next to, watching the sun dip behind the canopies of the trees. He then turned back to the game, cursing when he realized they were running out of time. He looked over to Kol's half of the screen.

"Hey could you climb up onto that roof? It's the one to your right. There's a time extension there."

"Yea, sure," Kol replied, dropping a horde of zombies that were heading his way before scaling up the ladder to the roof. There was a brief pause between them before Jeremy spoke again.

"There's a party at Meg's tonight. Want to tag along?"

Kol raised his eyebrows at his friend cum mark, his mind already made up. A party equals to illegal alcohol which equals to drunk teenagers which equals to food, which equals to a happy Kol. _Of course_ he was going.

"Yea sure, why not?" Kol grinned, turning his attention back to the game and hitting a zombie right in the head.

* * *

"How many people have you turned?" Finn snapped, feeling a little bitter.

Sage sighed.

"I don't know, a lot? Don't judge me. Finn, you turned me."

"Exactly Sage, I turned you. My passion overtook my morals." The bitterness was gone now, replaced with guilt. Finn had been awoken and convinced by their mother that vampirism was a curse. He had agreed with her back then just as much as he did now and he now realised that he had let himself curse someone else, Sage, someone he loved more than anyone else.

"My passions overtake my morals on a daily basis. It's called 'living life to the fullest'," Sage chimed. She caught sight of Finn's appearance, love and guilt chasing one another across his features, and felt a pang of hurt.

"Hey," she whispered, placing a hand over his. The Original looked up at her. "It had nothing to do with you. I love vampirism but it would be nothing without you. You gave me life and I just want to live it to the fullest. Don't feel guilty, I don't blame you." She paused for a moment. "And you aren't a curse, Finn. Not you or your family."

The Original smiled crookedly at her, just as their waitress came over with their shots.

"Finally," Sage commented, all evidence of their prior exchange gone.

She raised her glass to her partner, smiling.

"To living life to the fullest."

He raised his own and tapped it against hers gently, the glass clinking.

"To living life."

Sage laughed lightly before they both downed their shots but not a second passed before they had spit it back out, coughing.

"Oh, what the hell?"

"Vervain," Finn spat, turning around and spotting the younger of the two Salvatore brothers staring right at him, an eyebrow raised. The young vampire then slinked out through the door as the two rose to pursue him.

The Original slowly pushed the door open, his senses at their peak as he listened intently for any sign of Stefan. Behind him, he felt Sage follow. He carefully stepped out the Grill but caught his assailant's scent too late before the shape of the White Oak stake was coming right at him. The Original froze for the shortest moment, feeling pure terror come over him. But this had been what he had wanted, right? This was why he had volunteered himself to their mother when she had spoken to him. But now, he was not so sure anymore. Sage was directly behind him and he suddenly felt a painful aching for her. No, if he died, she would be left alone again. He did not doubt her ability to take care of herself but she had _waited _for him, she had waited for _nine hundred years_ and she had never forgotten him. No, even if he hated his vampirism, the least he could do was to endure it for her. They loved each other. His siblings had one another with their "always and forever" but his 'always' and his 'forever' had always been with Sage. He had just been too consumed by his own self-loathing to see it. He could not leave her, not after everything they had been through together and definitely not after everything he had put her through. All of a sudden, the idea of death did not seem so appealing anymore. But then the stake was flung down the stairs, the vampire having had lost his grip when Sage had grabbed and thrown him. The deadly weapon rolled down a few steps, each clank echoing in the Original's ears.

"Finn, the stake!"

Sage's anxious voice pulled him out of his reverie as the Original charged down toward the murder weapon, hand outstretched to grab it. His fingers were just about five inches away from the wood before the door burst open and the doppelganger emerged, armed with a crossbow, which she promptly used to shoot him with right in the stomach. Finn stumbled forward, doubling over in pain, before he registered the presence of the waiter back in the bar. But before he could react, he had plunged another stake right into his chest. Immediately, pain spidered out from the wound and his vision began to blur. From far away, he could hear Sage screaming but he could not do anything about it. The ground rushed up at him but he did not feel the pain of impact. His lungs were failing now and every breath was laboured. He gets the idea that he should try and yank the wood out of his heart but his hand refuses to move. From far, far away, Sage appeared, holding onto him desperately. He heard her calling his name, felt her fingers caress his cheek but it was like he was not there. Everything was fading out now, even the pain. He gets one final look at Sage, her cheeks stained with tears and her emerald eyes clouded in pain, before keeping that one final picture in his heart and feeling himself fade away.

Sage pulled back, her hand coming up to muffle her sobs as the body of her lover burst into flames. He was gone. She had waited nine hundred years to see him just to lose him again. They were always too far away from one another: Pulled apart by their families and their customs, ripped apart by Niklaus and now, ultimately, separated by death.

They would always be just five inches apart; never to meet but forbidden to forget.

* * *

Kol stood outside the room, wiping his hand over his mouth and taking one final look at his work before slamming the door shut. That had been fun. He had gone to the party with Jeremy and like moths to light, he had attracted quite a fair bit of prey. Needless to say, he had cornered all of them and had an all-you-can-eat buffet. But there was nothing to worry about; he had left the lot of them alive so he would not have to make a stupid cover story later. This was becoming a little odd for him though, considering that he had had quite a large meal just the night before. If he did not slow down a little, he might get what the vampire population called a 'blood high'. While that made all their vampire quirks – speed, strength, enhanced senses – sharper and better, it also took away one's control: You had no idea what you are doing while 'high' and all Kol remembered from the times he _had_ let himself go a little too far was that he was happy, there were people screaming and there was blood everywhere. That was not entirely unpleasant to him but his current situation needed him to be a little more discrete. Feeling a little bored now that he was full, he sauntered downstairs to find Jeremy, who had melted into the crowd. All he could smell was alcohol and sweat though and the vampire felt a little repulsed. When he did locate his mark, he was slouched over on a table, laughing a little too loudly.

"Jeremy, it's time to get you home now. Chop chop, let's go."

Said teenager looked up at the Original blearily, frowning.

"Anna?"

Kol rolled his eyes.

"It's not Anna; it's Kol. Now get up!"

Jeremy did not seem to hear him.

"I've missed you."

Kol howled in frustration, grabbing and then shaking Jeremy's shoulders.

"I'm Kol, you idiot, Kol!"

"Why?"

Kol stared at him, confused and then watched in horror as Jeremy stood up and clambered onto the table he had, moments ago, been sprawled upon.

"Jeremy, I would really suggest that you get down right now."

Jeremy, looking indignant, started yelling.

"Why?! What's wrong with standing up here?!" he paused for a short moment before frowning, "Did you know I have a sister?"

Kol sighed.

"Yes, Elena Gilbert, right?"

"How did you know that? Have you been stalking me?" Jeremy laughed, wobbling slightly.

"Actually, yes but that's not the point."

Jeremy frowned before bending over to try and get a drink but before he could reach the glass, he promptly lost his balance and toppled off the table. Kol groaned before walking over, the drunkard looking up at him from the ground. He squinted up at him, as if he could not see very properly, which was most likely the case.

"Kol?"

"Yes mate, it's Kol. Now get up!"

When the human did not move, Kol walked over and hooked his arms under his shoulders, hauling him up to his feet and heaving him outside.

"Wow man. You're reeeeaaaallllllyyyyyyy strong…" Jeremy drawled, his head lolling to one side.

Kol rolled his eyes and flung Jeremy into his car. The latter laughed.

"I can't brive, Kol. 'ere! You can take mah keyz and you can bive!" Jeremy sputtered, tossing – and completely missing – his keys at the Original. Kol caught them anyway.

"I don't know how to drive. I have been in a box for the last century!" Kol yelled at him, knowing that the boy would not remember what he had said anyway.

"Whattttttt?! Haha… You are so funnnnnyyyyyyyy…" Jeremy grinned, hiccupping. Kol sighed, cursing under his breath before shoving Jeremy over to the passenger's side and sliding into the driver's seat.

"Okay, Jeremy. If you do not want to die in a horrific traffic accident, tell me how to drive."

Jeremy narrowed his eyes, as if he were trying very hard to concentrate. Then he relaxed again and grinned.

"It's 'imple! Dat's what you tap on hen you wanna move or go faster and you stab on that to stop! And then, you pin that left and right to turn!" Jeremy pointed to the accelerator, brake and steering wheel in turn.

"Then what's this for?" Kol snapped, pointing at the gear shift.

Jeremy stared at it before shrugging.

"I can't bebender."

"What do you mean by 'I can't remember'?!"

Jeremy laughed.

"No torries! You're a kick burner. You'll figure it out!" Kol felt his jaw drop, utterly mortified that his own words were being used against him. But before he could retort, Jeremy's head had lolled and hit the window next to him and the boy started snoring. Kol had to sit in the car and close his eyes for a few minutes to squash the sudden urge to kill the teenager. Then he fiddled around with all the various buttons, levers and switches – accidentally reversing and slamming into the car behind them at one point – before he finally managed to get the vehicle to go forward. It then took him six tries to get out of the parking lot, Jeremy sleeping soundly through it despite all the jerking and bumping. Eventually, the Original got a little more comfortable with driving and went a little faster. When he did not crash, he started to toe the speed limit – not that he cared about obeying it – and concluded that if he ignored the circumstances, he kind of liked driving. They were almost back at the Miller's residence and Kol was just starting to think that the experience was really not so bad, before he heard Jeremy mutter something and then promptly throw up in the car. Kol cursed. _Never mind_.

* * *

By the time Kol had gotten them back to the Miller's, the rancid smell of bile and acid had gotten so acrid that the Original had rolled all the windows down and had fallen into the pattern of taking single breaths out of his side of the window, holding it and only exhaling and repeating when he could not take it anymore. The car swerved to a stop as Kol practically threw his door open and marched to the other side. He grabbed Jeremy by his arm – which had escaped unscathed by the episode – and hauled him out. Retaking his previous position with both his arms hooked under his friend's shoulders, he dragged the dead-drunk teenager toward the house, spewing a litany of curses he had picked up over the centuries. Finally arriving at the front door, Kol, since he had his back to the door, kicked backwards awkwardly, trying to keep his balance. He heard the people inside shuffle around for a moment before the door swung open to reveal a middle-aged couple, both with identical looks of shock on their features.

"Excuse me, Mister and Missus Miller?" Kol asked politely, trying to sound casual.

The man walked forward before realizing that their odd guest was in fact towing their charge. They visibly relaxed after that though worry was blatant on both their faces.

"What happened?"

"Jeremy here had a little too much to drink. But no need to worry, sir, madam; he'll live."

The couple immediately made way, thanking the Original profusely as he lugged Jeremy upstairs to his room. He managed to throw him onto his bed before the realization that the boy – and the car downstairs – was still covered in puke, hit him. Kol scowled. He was _not_ going there and he did not care if Jeremy did have to sleep like that; it was _his_ fault. Fortunately for both of them, Mister Miller came up behind him and told the vampire to let him handle it. Grateful and not exactly looking forward to spending any more time with Jeremy at the moment, Kol escaped from the room.

* * *

The shadow waited and watched, perfectly motionless on its perch on the tree. Things had gone very wrong and it was not happy. It watched apprehensively as a redhead vampire broke into the house it was watching and attacked her lover's murderers. It did not bother to intervene; vengeance belonged to her and her alone. Then, it leaned forward when the redhead started gasping, clawing desperately at her chest before both she and her companion collapsed to the ground, dead. It frowned, not entirely understanding what had happened but shook it off anyway before listening to the vampires discuss their next move and disappearing back into the trees, eyes narrowed.

* * *

Jeremy opened his eyes, sharp pain stabbing him right in the head as he groaned, trying and failing to turn onto his side. The light coming in from the window was killing him and doing all sorts of things to his abused head. He numbly registered that he was in his room but could not recall how he had gotten there. Most of the time, if he passed out drunk, he would wake up to find himself at whomever's house it was that he got drunk in. Then it hit him: _Kol_. The guy had probably towed his drunken body out of Meg's house and drove him home. The teenager was suddenly hit with an odd sense of appreciation. As if on cue, Kol appeared in front of his door, a sympathetic smile on his features though he seemed to be somewhat amused by the sight in front of him.

"Rise and shine!" the Original made it a point to shout, knowing that it would inflict maximum damage to his friend's hung-over head. Jeremy groaned, covering his ears before attempting to sit up. He failed.

"Oh man… What happened?"

"You got drunk. Isn't it obvious? Here! Have some pills and some coffee!"

Jeremy hissed when the vampire began shouting again and crawled over to the other side of the bed, next to the table where Kol had left the tray. He dry-swallowed the aspirin and then downed the coffee. He got about three swallows in before he collapsed back on the bed.

"No worries, mate! You will be feeling great soon!" Kol chimed, still making an effort to be louder than usual.

In fact, Kol _knew_ he was going to be better soon. Unbeknownst to the human, he had spiked the coffee with his blood. Sure, it seemed a little over-the-top for him but he had promised the Millers – who had let him stay the night – that he would take care of Jeremy and he was not going to spend the day watching him nurse a damned hangover. Kol pulled a chair over towards him and sat down, propping his legs up onto the table. He made a mental reminder to get rid of the coffee if Jeremy did not finish it. A moment passed before Jeremy sat up, rubbing his head.

"Hey… Did I do anything stupid?"

"It depends on what you call 'stupid' but if you ask me, then yes, you did."

"Why? What did I do?"

Kol grinned before shaking his head.

"I don't feel like talking about it."

The teenager looked horrified and Kol had to hide his snicker.

"What?! Kol, what did I do?!"

"Don't you remember anything?"

Kol was laughing now, watching Jeremy's face contort into a picture of hung-over confusion and mortification.

"What's so funny?! This isn't funny, Kol!"

"Of course it is. But if you are so worried then fine, I'll tell you. I only found you after you were drunk though so for a complete list, you'll need to find whoever it was that you were getting drunk with," Jeremy paled a few shades, "So your list of transgressions includes climbing onto a table and screaming, later falling off said table, requiring me to heave you outside because you refused to move, forcing me to drive when I did not know _how_ to drive – I blame all the damage to your and everybody else's cars on you by the way – and throwing up in the car you refused to teach me how to drive. Oh and you called me 'Anna'."

"I what?!"

"So, do you want to talk about it?" Kol snickered.

"No, actually I don't."

Jeremy had gotten up now, groaning loudly.

"I'm going to go take a shower," Jeremy mumbled before disappearing into the adjacent room and shutting the door behind him. Shrugging, Kol left the room to find Max downstairs, the retriever looking thoroughly pleased with him.

"Hello, Max."

The dog barked, wagging its tail. Kol grinned at it, ruffling the fur on top of its head. The dog started to circle the vampire before plopping back down, cocking its head to one side.

"Now, we should just keep that between us. No need to tell Jeremy anything."

The canine looked down at the floor before looking back up again. Kol frowned. _Was it nodding?!_

"Okay…"

The dog then bounced back up to its feet and started barking, before disappearing into another room and returning with a leash in its mouth.

"Are you blackmailing me?!"

Max barked, dropping everything on the floor.

"Fine, fine, I have nothing better to do anyway. But you better keep up," Kol turned back in the general direction of the bathroom and yelled, "Jeremy! I'm taking Max out!"

He picked up the distinct sound of the teenager laughing before he hooked the leash up to the collar and followed the dog outside.

* * *

By the time Kol had returned with Max, Jeremy was out of the shower and had finished up the coffee, all signs of his hangover gone. Kol unleashed the dog and it proceeded to bound over to its owner, laying its head on his lap, still panting heavily.

"Hey Max!" Jeremy greeted, all smiles now, before turning to Kol and thanking the Original for all his help. Kol settled himself next to the human, propping his feet up on the coffee table.

"So Jeremy, what do you want to do?"

Jeremy stayed quiet for a while before sighing, sub-consciously stroking Max.

"Hey, about yesterday, sorry about that."

"No need to worry mate! So long as you don't ask me for repairs, I forgive you."

Jeremy chuckled before straightening up.

"You asked me about Anna, right?"

Kol stiffened. He could hear it in the way Jeremy said her name; it was not just some hormone-driven crush. It had been real at some point but it had obviously not ended well.

"Look, if you don't want to talk about it…"

In reality, Kol did not really want to hear it either. He had meant it as a joke in the morning but now it looked pretty serious. Jeremy shook his head, sighing.

"Nah, I guess I should have told someone."

"So, was she your girlfriend of some sort?"

"Yeah, yeah she was. She did not really have anyone at that time; her mum had passed away a long time ago and her dad was who knows where. And as for me, I guess I did not really have anyone either, my sister and her friends were keeping things from me, I was on crack and getting myself in a whole lot of trouble," Jeremy chuckled humourlessly.

Kol was beginning to feel a little awkward, or maybe helpless. He had never been able to handle human emotions well and probably never would. He had no idea what he should do and it was not like he had much past experience. So he just kept quiet. Jeremy paused for a moment before continuing.

"We just sort of gravitated towards one another eventually. We found comfort in each other for a long time and then… she died." Jeremy sighed, and for some reason, Max began to whine. Kol shifted uncomfortably.

"Well… … I suppose sometimes we need to let go of things. I'm sure she's happy, wherever she is."

There was an awkward silence as Kol contemplated over what else he could say before giving up. "I'm sorry, I'm really not good at this," Kol murmured sheepishly. On the bright side, Jeremy laughed.

"Hey, it's cool. Wanna head out? We can go to the batting cages, play some baseball."

For once, the Original recognised what he was talking about. Sure, baseball, that will be fun.

"Sure thing, but you're driving," Kol grumbled and Jeremy laughed.


	8. Chapter 7: Bloodlines

**A/N: Here's this week's update! :) Two more to the end of Part I! *pops confetti* Okay, anyway, a much more serious announcement: I won't be able to update next week because I have a camp that lasts... well, the whole of next week. But, I'll make it up to you guys by updating TWICE on Christmas week! (and hence, completing Part I at the same time). So, I'll be seeing you all in two weeks time but till then, hope you all enjoy the chapter, it's got a little canon in it since Kol showed up at this point but it's also got drunk Kol so that's always fun! :)**

**Great big thanks to all the lovely people who followed this story, put it on their favourites and/or reviewed!:** _Tori Buzolic, An Amber Pen, Lauren Lydia Jane Mikaelson, renaisrafilbekova, WendyBird21, sabinasabina.8855, DoveyDovey, Mary VA, emanikadee and moonskip_. **Love you all :)**

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV series or any of its characters; those belong to the CW network and all other respective owners. This is purely for entertainment._

* * *

_Last time:_

_There was an awkward silence as Kol contemplated over what else he could say before giving up. "I'm sorry, I'm really not good at this," Kol murmured sheepishly. On the bright side, Jeremy laughed._

_"Hey, it's cool. Wanna head out? We can go to the batting cages, play some baseball."_

_For once, the Original recognised what he was talking about. Sure, baseball, that will be fun._

_"Sure thing, but you're driving," Kol grumbled and Jeremy laughed._

* * *

**Chapter 7: Bloodlines**

Kol watched Jeremy swing the bat and totally miss the incoming projectile. Apparently the human's aim was entirely the same whether he was sober or not. The two of them had been here for the past hour or so and they had already gone a few rounds. Obviously, the Original was doing better than his companion. Kol watched as another ball was launched out of the machine. This time, Jeremy succeeded and with a loud crack, it was sent flying back the way it came. Kol felt a vibration in his pocket and scowled. There was only one person it could be. He pulled it out and unlocked the screen.

"_Kol, I'm sorry that we have to tell you this way but Finn is dead. We have managed to unlink the bond between us though. As for Jeremy, I'm unconcerned with what you wish to do with him. Nik."_

Kol froze; staring at the screen and feeling himself go numb.

"Hey, Kol! Are you alright?" Jeremy called from where he was, concern blatant on his features.

The Original was not entirely sure what he was feeling at the moment.

"Ah Jeremy, I need to head out for a moment. I'll be back soon." Kol did not bother to wait for a response before he got up from where he was and practically dashed out of the cages. Jeremy frowned, but turned back to his game anyway.

* * *

There was a large patch of trees near the batting cages, a little bit of nature that the humans had left untouched. That was where Kol went. He could not afford to go very far but had wanted to get away anyway. _Finn was dead_. There was no question as to who had been responsible; there was only one group of people that would have the guts and audacity to go up against an Original. Kol growled, his grip on the low-hanging branch he was sitting on tightening dangerously. He will admit; he was not exactly close to his brother but still, he was his brother, his family. And even if he had been stuck in a box for the majority of his life, he cared for his brother, more than he had let himself care about most. They would pay; the bloody Gilbert wench and her vampire entourage. But Nik wanted the doppelganger. Kol was going to have to think around it; there was no purpose in killing to avenge a fallen family member only to upset another. The Original had no idea how long he stayed seated atop his branch but eventually, he spied Damon Salvatore and the older Gilbert enter the batting cages, going over to where he knew Jeremy was. The vampire let out a guttural growl, his grip on the branch further tightening. Why was Elena allowed to have _her_ sibling, protect _her_ loved ones, and yet take away someone else's? Kol narrowed his eyes, feeling rage overcoming him. He would kill her, he would kill them all. It was only a matter of time.

The branch snapped.

* * *

"Katherine sired us, Rose sired Katherine, all we need to do is find out who sired Rose," Damon surmised, following after Jeremy as he returned his bat to the rack.

"So, you travelled across the country to get me to talk to a dead vampire?" Jeremy deadpanned, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the vampire. He was always willing to help his sister, yes. But Damon? Not so much.

"Dead vampire is redundant, but yes." Damon pressed on, both he and Elena following after him. Jeremy sighed.

"Well, I can't. I could talk to Anna and Vicki because I knew them," Jeremy explained, returning his helmet to the shelf, "I've never even met Rose."

"What good is you dying and coming back to life if you can't talk to a ghost when I need you to?" Damon snapped, irritated. Jeremy wanted to hit him, honestly. The vampire was a complete ass. He wondered what his sister even saw in him. Sensing the tension, Elena moved forward between them.

"Rose spent a long time running from Klaus as well. She and Damon were close, so maybe we can use him as a connection."

Jeremy sighed. His only family left and she and her boyfriend or brother of her boyfriend person had come all the way here just so he could help them. Nice. Behind Elena and Damon, he spotted Kol returning, the latter with a smirk on his face as he moved to pick up a wooden baseball bat from the rack. He seemed a little odd.

"Fine fine but can we do this later? My friend just got here and yes Damon, I actually have some." Jeremy offered, moving between them and pecking Elena on the cheek without waiting for either of them to approve or more likely, disapprove. "I'll call you when I'm done."

Elena smiled but turned anyway, calling out to her brother exasperatedly, "Jer…"

Her expression contorted into that of fear when she realised that she recognised Jeremy's 'friend'. Oblivious to what was happening, Jeremy called out to the Original, who had swung the bat up onto his shoulder, a smirk on his lips.

"Damon," Elena began, backing away, "It's Kol."

The vampire frowned before turning, only to be greeted with a baseball bat right in his face. The bat snapped in half with a sickening crack as he stumbled and fell down to the ground. Kol grinned. Nik had told him to leave the doppelganger alone. He never said anything about the Salvatore.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jeremy yelled from behind him. He felt a little bad for the kid. It was not exactly his fault per se, more due to who he was related to.

"Jeremy, get back! He's an Original!"

"What?"

Kol rolled his eyes. Yes, he was an Original, so what?! He had not even done anything. She on the other hand was a doppelganger who killed his brother. Kol scowled at Damon who was groaning on the floor. The vampire was still awake – and alive. He was going to have to do something about that. Kol strolled over to a nearby rack, abandoning his broken bat. Why did everything _have_ to break when he was trying to kill someone?

"No hard feelings, mate. But we're not buds."

Kol could not help but catch the look of betrayal on Jeremy's face. He remembered something that someone once told him: There cannot be betrayal without trust. He felt almost sorry for what he was probably putting Jeremy through but family was more important. Making an effort to not look at the teenager, he pulled a bat from the rack, examining it.

"You know, I'll never get used to aluminium. But hey! At least it won't break."

Stalking over to the fallen Damon, he swung the bat in a wide arc, only to be met with resistance as the younger vampire caught it. Before he knew what was happening, the broken half of the bat was sent through his abdomen. Pain shot up through the vampire before everything went black.

* * *

Jeremy pulled the bag out of the car, sighing. They had gone back to the Miller's to get his things but they were not home so all he could do was to leave a note for them. He honestly felt quite bad. And then there was Max who had looked so happy to see him come back. But despite trying, Damon was strictly against the idea of bringing a dog along so the teenager had to leave him. Behind him, Damon and Elena were grabbing the rest of their things before they all started out towards their room.

"For the record, she's the one who wanted to stay in a motel, not me," Damon grumbled.

"So where are we?"

"Corner of somewhere and nowhere where Kol can't find us."

Honestly, Jeremy, knowing Kol, doubted that he – especially since he was apparently an Original – would have a lot of trouble finding them if he really wanted to.

"I can't believe Kol was a vampire," Jeremy mumbled. The betrayal had stung. So was it all a ruse? The school? The video games? The party? The hangover? Everything?

"Well, didn't you find it weird that you made a friend so fast? Have you met you?" Damon scoffed, rolling his eyes. He could practically feel Elena burning holes in the back of his head.

"Not helping."

Damon ignored her and opened the door, sauntering inside before dumping all the baggage on the floor. Elena scanned the room.

"Well, this should work. Right, Jer?" Elena asked, sounding unsure of herself.

"Yeah, doesn't really matter."

Damon strolled over to the curtains, staring outside for a moment. They were about as desolate as it could get. He would not be able to find them, right? He spun back around, pulling the curtains shut.

"Alright Whoopi, what do you need?"

* * *

Kol groaned, pushing himself up as he ran a hand over his abdomen, trying to find the stick. Oddly enough, it was not there. He frowned and looked around him, his vision steadying. He had been lying on one of the benches in the batting cage and everyone else was just continuing on with their game, completely unconcerned despite most probably having had seen someone drive a stick through his gut. The Original got back to his feet and turned to where Damon had unceremoniously staked him. There was not even blood on the floor anymore. He felt someone come up next to him and spun around.

"Hello, Kol."

The Original frowned, squinting at the teenager. He looked mildly familiar but he definitely did not know him personally. Then it hit him: _Ryan_. He had seen the boy when he had gone to the school to stalk Jeremy.

"Care to explain what happened? And don't tell me you are a vampire. I would have known."

The boy smiled and held out a bag to him which the Original cautiously accepted. It contained a change of clothes for his bloody ones. Even more oddly, they seemed to be able to fit him perfectly. There was a pause.

"No one here remembers anything. They think you were hit by a baseball on the head and went to sleep it off. Follow me."

Ryan turned and walked out of the batting cages. Kol followed apprehensively. Ryan was human; there was no doubt about it. Kol would have been able to tell if he was vampire, werewolf or hybrid because of the difference in heart rate. And he had always been particularly sensitive to witches. So what the hell was he? It did not matter, if he turned out to be aggressive, the Original was certain he would win the fight. Ryan stopped near the tree line before turning back around to face the Original. He simply stared at him for a while before he started speaking.

"You were staked by Damon Salvatore. The three of them have left. Jeremy Gilbert has already returned to the Miller's residence and collected his possessions so you will not need to return to that house to search for him. You need to feed." Ryan summarised before pulling out a knife and bringing it to his wrist but before he could cut it, Kol grabbed the weapon.

"What in the world is wrong with you?"

Ryan simply stared blankly at the vampire. A short moment passed before he spoke again.

"You need to feed. Remember to get rid of the body; it'll raise suspicion if you don't."

Quite abruptly, Ryan grabbed his arm. Kol felt the skin burn and instinctively released the weapon which the human caught easily. Vervain. There was yet another pause.

"There is no need to be difficult, Kol. You never really cared about who you killed anyway," another pause and then, "I'm sorry about Finn."

Shock was shooting through the vampire but that time, he had heard it: An almost undetectable sound. Before he could do anything, Ryan had run the knife across his throat, blood flowing freely from his neck. Not exactly sure what was going on, Kol fed off the boy before dragging the body into the woods. When he got deep enough, he dropped him and started to search him. It was tiny, so tiny in fact that even a vampire might have missed it but lodged in the boy's right ear was a black device. Kol put it up to his own ear, and listened. It had been deep enough that the human would have gotten a clear signal but all that was coming through it now was static. He did not know how he had not seen it before. The boy had been compelled and he had been acting under orders. No wonder he had seemed so strange. While the vampire had not known Ryan very well, he was definitely not someone who would have done or said any of those things anyway. After getting rid of the body, Kol wandered back to the batting cages, feeling utterly confused. He pulled out his phone and called his brother.

"_Kol. How nice to hear from you."_

"Your doppelganger and her boyfriend are here in Denver."

"_Which boyfriend may I ask?"_

Kol rolled his eyes, "The older one."

"_And they're supposed to be getting my stakes… Do you have any idea why they are there?"_

"No. They grabbed Jeremy Gilbert and fled."

There was a short pause as Nik pondered over the new information.

"_They're tracing their bloodline… Finn's death must have tipped them off."_

Kol frowned, "And you know who they are descended from?"

"_Katherina of course, whom was turned by that nuisance Rose. I've been hunting them both."_

Rose? Kol had turned quite a few Roses in his lifetime.

"Which Rose exactly?" He heard Nik hum to himself on the other side of the phone.

"_They're descended from Mary Porter."_

Kol gagged. "Scary Mary? Your thirteenth century bed buddy? Well this is just brilliant."

"_Kol, you need to kill her."_

"Ouch. No rekindling of an old flame? But of course, brother, it would be my pleasure. But where exactly is she?"

"_I am not quite sure but I'll find out. We'll keep in touch."_

The line went dead and Kol slid the phone back in his pocket. He was actually feeling better now that he had fed but was still confused as to who was supposedly helping him. He arrived at the batting cages and wandered inside. An unfamiliar young man passed him.

"Hey, are you okay? That was a pretty hard hit."

Kol smiled at him and brushed off his concern. Apparently, Ryan was right. Everyone here _was_ compelled. Kol wandered over to where he had been 'sleeping' and found his bat, along with the clean half of the broken baseball bat. The bloodied half on the other hand was nowhere to be seen. Grabbing them both, he went back outside.

* * *

It took Nik the rest of the day to get back to his brother but eventually, he did. The address though, led to some seemingly random place in the middle of nowhere. Kol had spent the better half of the night travelling through the states after compelling himself a car but got there before the sun got up anyway. He parked his vehicle a fairly significant distance from the house before grabbing what was left of the wooden baseball bat and breaking his way in.

There were many kinds of vampires and an easy way to classify them all would be to be set them on a scale of how mental they had apparently gotten. There were the sane vampires who fed when they needed to but remained discrete. Next was the less subtle bunch that fed and never bothered to clean up their messes. Then there were the two extremities: the vegetarians, though rare, who fed only off animals, and the rippers, far less rare, who basically had no control over their thirst. The moment Kol entered Mary Porter's house, he had decided to put her in a separate category of her own. There were stacks upon stacks of seemingly useless junk towered up against the walls and the place smelt like something – or a lot of things – died there though that was probably the case. No lights were on and the strong stench of abandonment was pungent in the air. It was convenient then that Kol's vision was just as good in darkness. Vampires were after all, originally nocturnal hunters. Kol was about to call his brother to question his sources when he heard the distinct sound of footsteps in one of the rooms on the first floor. _Mary_. The Original grinned and sauntered in.

Mary Porter, better known as Scary Mary thanks to her infamous reputation of scaring the living daylights out of humans and vampires alike, was sitting rather morosely in a corner when Kol walked in. She looked up when she heard him and got to her feet. Already the Original was getting a very strong vibe of 'crazy' off of her. Her hair was a dishevelled mess and she was donned in a faded white dress, her eyes darting around the room, they paused shortly on the bat he held in his hand. She had no daylight ring; no wonder she had gone mad. Being sentenced to eternal darkness does tend to have that effect on people.

"Hello sir, is there something I can help you with?" her voice was hoarse from lack of use and her head tilted to one side when she asked him the question. Maybe killing her would be good for the poor thing.

"My brother sends his regards. You may remember him, Niklaus Mikaelson?"

Mary narrowed her eyes, which were slowly turning black. Apparently, she had not fed for quite a while.

"Are you here to kill me?"

Kol shrugged.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that. If your brother wishes me dead, he can come and do it himself."

Kol faked a wince, "Oh I'm afraid you're mistaken. This has nothing to do with your little affair; more that you just happen to be in the wrong place in a bloodline. No offense really, I promise to be quick."

Mary lunged, her fangs bared as she charged him. When she was at that speed and wearing that white dress of hers, she really did look like a ghost. Kol sidestepped her before grabbing the back of her neck and easily throwing the younger vampire across the room. She slammed into the wall and the room shook slightly. A small part of Kol's head wondered whether the house would give way and fervently hoped it would not. Mary growled, grabbing a floor lamp and snapping it in half before launching it straight at the Original. He caught it with his free hand and discarded it on the ground.

"Darling, you really don't have to be so difficult. You know you can't kill me."

Mary hissed and charged him again, getting a hold on his neck. Kol grabbed her arm and twisted, eliciting a gasp of pain before he swung her back around and sent her flying to the other side of the room. The vampire hit the wall hard but before she could fall back onto the ground, Kol sent his half of the baseball bat flying right at her. The makeshift stake flew true and went straight through the vampire's heart. She struggled and choked for a moment before the colour left her skin and she hung limply off the wall. Kol sighed, dusting himself off. It was only a matter of time before the Salvatore and the doppelganger would get here and he was looking forward to welcoming them. The Original left the room, heading back to his car to retrieve his bat.

* * *

Kol sat quietly on the seat, listening disinterestedly at the ongoing conversation between the Salvatore and the doppelganger outside. He had been back almost an hour ago, how inefficient of them. He rolled his eyes when he heard them move away from the room he was in and mused over the idea of showing up behind them and yelling 'Boo!' just for the sake of it. The doppelganger sounded like she was already about to get a heart attack and he would not mind helping to speed up the process. Instead, he sighed and reached his bat over to a nearby stack of what looked like books and nudged it. This was really wasting his time. The cluster lost its precarious balance and toppled onto the ground, the resulting racket echoing through the house. There, that should get their attention. He heard them approach the room and sighed.

The door he was sitting behind was slowly nudged open, an artificial light shining through. It roamed a little before finding the recently deceased Mary on the wall as both the doppelganger and the Salvatore flooded in. To Kol's amusement, neither of them realised he was sitting right behind them. The Original had decided to leave them be; Elena, the precious blood bag, had been granted immunity by Nik and Damon, well, he would eventually kill the guy but when he did, he would make a spectacle of it and probably link it to all the other murders he was planning back in Mystic Falls. Damon could not have done it alone anyway and just because Kol could not kill Elena did not mean he could not make her suffer. He would kill them all, all the people she cared about, in one fell sweep.

"Mary," Damon murmured, breaking the silence.

"Quite contrary."

Kol grinned before turning on the lamp next to him, staring up at the pair. They froze and he smirked. This was going to be fun. Getting up to his feet, he cut through them, amused at how Damon was trying to put himself between him and the doppelganger. He was not bothered though; that particular defence was not exactly very strong.

"Shame about Mary, she used to be a blast. Don't quite know what happened. I fear all the time she has spent with my family might have ruined her," Kol lied smoothly. Mary was Nik's pet and in reality, his family was never really big on sharing. He spared a brief glance at her, toying with his bat. "She was a bit of an Original groupie."

"And were you her favourite?" Elena asked, her heart rate speeding up. Kol smiled lightly at her; maybe he would get that heart attack after all.

"You mean did I turn her?" he paraphrased, seeing through the sugar-coating easily. "I think I did. But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah. But there was also a Klaus period. And let's not forget the Elijah affair," Kol mused, checking down his list of siblings. "I spoke to my brother; I know you're trying to find out who you descended from." There was a short pause as the Original turned back for a final look at his work. "Now you never will."

"So," Kol continued as he started towards Damon, tapping his bat twice on his leg, "where did we leave off?"

Without warning, he sent it into Damon's leg, hearing the distinct crack of splintered bone just before he collapsed onto the ground. He had idled about just for this moment. Bringing his bat back up, he swung it twice more, dislocating both the vampire's shoulders.

"Elena, get out of here!" Damon groaned, his voice laced with pain and slightly muffled by the carpet. The doppelganger immediately made a beeline for the door but Kol was not about to let either of them escape before he was done and dashed in front of her.

"According to my brother," he hissed, "you're off-limits. Please don't test me."

Kol grabbed her roughly by the neck and threw her backwards into a shelf. The teenager grunted in pain and stumbled. Damon abruptly got back up his feet, his leg having had recovered enough to support his weight. He charged right up at the Original, grabbing his neck though it seemed to hurt him a lot more than it did Kol.

"Don't touch her," he growled. Kol smirked, before slamming him hard on the head and promptly throwing him into a wall. The vampire crumbled to the ground, groaning in pain. Kol smiled.

"Oh dear, I've hit a nerve," he chuckled. "Relax darling! I just want us to be even. You snapped my neck, you killed my brother and then you humiliated me," Kol snarled. He lifted the bat over his head and slammed down hard on the younger vampire's back, feeling and then hearing the spine break. He slammed it back down twice more on two more points in his spine before finally stopping.

"There, now we're even."

Kol smiled at Elena who was cowering behind them before leaving the room and slamming the door shut behind him. He was about to go out the front door when he heard Jeremy muttering to himself from outside. He could do it now, kill Jeremy, go back for Damon, start his massacre; let Elena know how it felt to lose the people close to you. But for some reason, he did not. Instead, he turned back around and headed out the backdoor.

* * *

_New York, October 2010_

Kol sat morosely at the bar, playing with the bottle in his hand. The room was completely quiet, save for one or two people who were still bleeding out on the floor. Everyone else was well, already bled out. The Original sighed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a crumpled piece of paper.

_1909 – New Orleans_

_1909 – Oregon_

_1920 – Chicago_

_1921 – New York_

And that was it, end of the paper trail. He sighed, crushing the sheet in his hand and looked over at his only survivor, a young female in her early-twenties. The entire front of her shirt was soaked in blood and she was panting heavily, her eyes drooping. Most of the colour had already drained from her cheeks.

"It is so difficult to track someone down. Don't you agree?"

She wheezed; she did not seem very much like she had heard him at all but the Original sighed and continued anyway.

"All the little tracking and record systems made by you humans are just flawed, in my opinion. Look at this! It just _ends_!" Kol yelled in frustration, tossing the paper ball into a corner of the bar. It broke a glass. "You would think that time would have made you all better at keeping tabs on where people were going but no!"

The lady frowned at him, her breathing slowing. Kol got up from his seat and stared at her.

"You're a tough one to crack aren't you, darling? And you were the first one I drained too. I admire your perseverance and bravery. Here you go!" Kol smiled at her, biting into his wrist and dripping his blood into her mouth. She did not show much of a visible response. A short moment later, he lifted her shoulders a little and snapped her neck.

"Now go on! Go on to Mystic Falls and make friends with Elena Gilbert and her renegade friends! See if they try to kill any more of us, then!" Kol yelled at the body before returning to his seat and slumping over the table. Why was everything spinning? A short moment later, the Original was jostled awake by his phone vibrating. Usually, he would have thought that it was Nik but Nik was desiccated and stuffed in a box somewhere. Serves the Original hybrid right; he should have just let Kol kill the doppelganger and her friends in the first place. Now, his pet project has turned around and bitten him in the back. Kol grumbled, pulling his phone out of his pocket and bringing it to his ear.

"You've reached Kol Mikaelson. Leave a message. Or better yet, leave!"

His eldest brother's voice crackled from the other end of the line.

"_Kol? Are you drunk?"_

"Elijah! I never thought I'd hear from you again! How have you been, brother, and how in the world did you get this number?"

Over the line, he heard Elijah sigh.

"_Our sister gave it to me. Listen, Kol. I'm on my way now to Mystic Falls to bargain for our brother's body. I need you to give me your word that you will not attack Elena or her friends if they agree."_

Kol laughed, "Of course, 'Lijah! Why in the world would I _attack_ the very people who killed one of our brothers and desiccated the other? If anything, I'm going to kill them."

"_Kol… There is a hunter in Mystic Falls at the moment with an indestructible White Oak stake. And I do not believe you wish for any harm to come to Niklaus while he in such a vulnerable state."_

"Why not? He left Finn daggered, he daggered me, he daggered our sister, he lied to you, he then daggered _you_ before daggering Bekah a few more times and made frenemies with the enemy! And now he's _fawning_ over one of those frenemies! Our brother has issues, brother. And I am going to kill those issues! That's it! Problem solved. Hold up, I'm coming back to town."

"_Kol!"_

Kol hung up the phone and looked around for a moment. Everything was so _blur_. He squinted, trying to get his eyes to focus but they would not. He frowned. What was he going to do again? His head was pounding though so he lay back down over the counter. It was not long before his phone rang. He brought it to his ear without getting up.

"What?!"

"_Kol, how much have you been drinking?"_

"Drinking what, blood or booze?"

Elijah sighed.

"_Do you agree to the terms? I'm going to get our brother back and if possible, that stake. But I need you to give me your word."_

"No! No, no, no, no, no! You see Elijah, they would never _dare_ to kill Nik! If they do, all of them will die! We just need to wait a couple of centuries and by default, we will get his body back! Speaking of which, he should be ashamed of himself; he indirectly made those Salvatores and their bunch of friends."

"_Kol, for the love of—_"

"Where is Bekah?! I want to speak to my lawyer! I have rights and I will kill whoever I want!" Kol yelled into the phone, irritated. His own yelling was making his headache worse though. There was a short pause where Elijah was shouting into the phone. Apparently, he had somehow made his brother lose his cool. Kol would not have thought that the usually stoic Elijah was even capable of losing his cool. Apparently, you _did _learn something new every day. It would have been amusing really, but at the moment, not so much. Kol growled, his head pounding in protest.

"Fine!"

"_What?"_

"Go and make a ridiculous deal with those teenagers then! Just stop yelling into the phone! Everything hurts…"

"_Kol? Are you alright?"_

"No! But do you care? NO!"

Kol released his grip on the phone and let it fall onto the counter before tucking his head under his arm. Everything _was_ hurting; maybe he really had drunk too much. He could still hear Elijah calling his name from his abandoned phone though, despite all his efforts to tune it out. He picked it back up again and yelled into the receiver.

"Oh for the love of vampirism, Elijah, just shut up! I'm trying to nurse a hangover!"

He thought he heard Elijah sigh but he was not too sure.

"_I'll see you soon, Kol."_

The Original groaned, tossing his phone aside before returning to his position on the counter. Why did everything have to be so difficult? A long time passed before he was awoken when he heard the lady he had turned wake up behind him. He grudgingly pulled himself off the counter and turned towards her.

"Hello, darling. You're a vampire, congratulations. The sun is going to rise in another hour or so, so I would suggest you make a move, find somewhere to hide. No worries, I'll burn this place down to the ground right after I get some sleep."

The newly-turned vampire was backing away from him now, shaking her head.

"What are you talking about?"

Kol sighed.

"I'm telling you the truth; go Google it or something. But really, you should leave now. You'll need an invitation to get into a house so best get going! Goodbye!"

The newborn had her back to the door now and turned, dashing outside. Kol rolled his eyes. Was he really that scary? He thought he was pretty nice actually. Most would not have bothered to explain anything to those they turn, leaving them to adapt or die. Kol sighed before going back to sleep. He would deal with everything later.

* * *

_Mystic Falls, October 2010_

Jeremy sat quietly in the sitting room, playing a video game on his Xbox; no one could really blame him, so much had happened over such a short time and he needed some time to just be a teenager. Elena was a vampire now, there was a hunter named Connor in town, Matt had been elevated to the role of blood bag for Elena which Jeremy did not particularly like, there had been an attack on Tyler in the memorial; April was back in town, the council members had been blown up; Elena was apparently sired to Damon and all sorts of crazy stuff he really wished he did not know about. But worse of all, Alaric was dead.

Jeremy sighed, gunning down a horde of soldiers. He had been the only parental figure they had and now that Elena was completely losing it, the boy could not help but miss their old friend's presence. He would have known what to do. His sister was probably with the Salvatores again; she had taken a week off school after the events at the memorial to adjust to her new life as a vampire. He was starting to wonder exactly how any of them were planning on graduating what with everything that was going on when he heard the doorbell ring. He paused the game and twisted around to face the door.

"It's not locked!"

There was no point in locking the doors anyway, those were to prevent people from coming in and the only thing they needed to keep out could kick that door down – locked or not.

The visitor gingerly pushed the door open and peered inside, cautious. When she spotted Jeremy, she waved.

"Oh hey, you're Elena's brother right?"

Jeremy got up from where he was sitting and looked outside, confused.

"Yeah, who are you?"

"Name's Jennel; I'm a friend of your sister. I came by to pass her some things from school; I couldn't find Caroline or Matt," she frowned before lifting up a bag, "She's been missing for the past week. Can I come in?"

"Yeah sure, just leave them over there," Jeremy gestured at the table.

Jennel crossed the threshold and dumped all the things on the table with a huff. She then walked over, watching Jeremy for a while as he continued with his game.

"Is she alright?"

Jeremy frowned, pondering over that question. No, actually none of them were alright.

"Yeah, she's okay. She's just been through quite a lot recently."

Jennel smiled, patting him on the shoulder.

"Well, stay strong."

Jeremy smiled at her, _if only he could._

"Thanks."

The brunette smiled at him before heading back out, closing the door behind her. Jeremy sighed. He did want to stay strong, for him, for his sister, for everyone else that was crumbling down now after everything that had happened. But he was human; he had his own limits just as well as all the rest of them. Sometimes he thought that maybe Elena was right, that it would have been better if he had not found out about everything. But then, his sister would have to fight her battles on her own. No, it was better that he knew, even if it hurt him sometimes. There was nothing more important than family and he would do anything for his.


	9. Chapter 8: Army of One

**A/N: Hello guys!~ So I'm back from my short absence due to camp and here's the next chapter :D The next will be up sometime in the middle of this week as promised and once that one's up, Part I will officially be over ^^ Hope you like this one; the episode was Kol-centric but I've tried my very very best to minimise canon :)**

**Thanks to all who have reviewed, followed or added this to their favs: **_Tori Buzolic, An Amber Pen, Sarakk, laceyjr, Buzolicschick, DoctorWho9 and hayleyb29. _**Thanks so much for the support! :D**

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV series or any of its characters; those belong to the CW network and all other respective owners. This is purely for entertainment._

* * *

_Last time:_

_The brunette smiled at him before heading back out, closing the door behind her. Jeremy sighed. He did want to stay strong, for him, for his sister, for everyone else that was crumbling down now after everything that had happened. But he was human; he had his own limits just as well as all the rest of them. Sometimes he thought that maybe Elena was right, that it would have been better if he had not found out about everything. But then, his sister would have to fight her battles on her own. No, it was better that he knew, even if it hurt him sometimes. There was nothing more important than family and he would do anything for his._

* * *

**Chapter 8: Army of One**

_Los Angeles, January 2011_

A sleek black sports car whizzed through the street, cutting recklessly in between lanes as the other drivers horned at it and spouted profanities out their windows. The owner could not be bothered though, it was not like he was about to cause a traffic accident, he was too fast for that; if anything did happen, it would simply be because _they_ had reacted too slowly and his vehicle would definitely not be among the resulting collision. Kol grinned at their distress though, enjoying the breeze blowing through his hair. He liked driving with the top down. It was nowhere as fast as he could get on foot but it was nice having something else do the work for once. Despite the bedlam on the street that he was causing, he heard his phone go off from where he had left it on the passenger seat. Rolling his eyes, he continued on his course with one hand on the steering wheel while reaching over with the other. This apparently caused some panic from his fellow motorists but he ignored them. Bringing the phone to his ear, he waved at the car next to him, both hands off the steering wheel for half a second, just to laugh at the other man's reaction.

"_Kol,"_ a familiar velvet voice rose from the other end.

"Baby sister! How nice to finally hear from you," Kol drawled.

"_I'd like to ask for a little favour."_

That was Rebekah for you: forever straightforward. Kol rolled his eyes, swerving the car into a sharp corner and eliciting more horning and even some screams from the people behind him.

"Why am I not surprised?"

He heard Rebekah take in a deep breath on the other side of the line, as if she were trying to calm herself.

"_Where are you, brother?"_

"Me? I'm in sunny Los Angeles, drinking my fill of beach-goers," the older Original offered whilst casting a glance out the window. The paper trail had gone cold and in truth, this was him manually tracking, which was unfortunately, not very efficient.

"_What are you even doing there?" _Rebekah sneered, not understanding what was on her brother's mind.

"What does it sound like I'm doing? I'm travelling through the country counter clockwise!" Kol grinned. He could almost hear Rebekah roll her eyes.

"_Well, our brother daggered me and—"_

The older Original laughed.

"Do you really find that such a surprise?" he guffawed, "You should have come along with me, Bekah. I for one would never dagger you."

Rebekah ignored his comment and continued.

"_As I was saying, he's looking for a cure for vampirism."_

Kol frowned, not quite following where his sister was going with this.

"Why would he want that? He's the _all powerful hybrid_," Kol scoffed.

"_He wants it for the doppelganger so he can make more of his hybrids," _Rebekah snapped, her detest for said doppelganger seeping into her tone.

At this, the vampire frowned.

"Hold up, backtrack a little, sister. Elena Gilbert is a vampire?"

"_A newborn, yes," _Rebekah grumbled, obviously not liking the turn in the conversation.

"So that means I can kill her now?" Kol suggested, suddenly feeling awfully cheery.

"_No, it means that I want to ruin his plan. I can't trust anyone here, Kol. I need backup."_

"And you're asking me, your _other_ brother to help you ruin _our_ brother's grand scheme because he threw a tantrum and daggered you?" Kol surmised, feeling a little put out by her rejection. He _really_ wanted to kill that doppelganger.

"_Yes…?"_

"And this has nothing to do with you wanting the cure for yourself?" Kol teased, knowing his sister's inner insecurities all too well. Kol thought it was pretty obvious to anyone with eyes actually; his sister's absurd desire to go to school of all places, all the proms and dances, the blonde quarterback… It was clear as day to him what she secretly desired.

Rebekah sighed, sounding very much like she wanted to hang up.

"_Fine, if you won't help—"_

"I never said I wouldn't, darling sister. When do you need me? I assume you and our brother are still haunting the streets of Mystic Falls?"

"_Well, yes," _Rebekah sounded significantly happier now,_ "And as soon as you can make it."_

Kol sighed at the prospect of returning to Mystic Falls but executed an illegal right turn anyway before mentally altering his route to his newfound destination.

* * *

Kol arrived in Virginia a few hours after the sun had gone up and got himself a drink before heading to Mystic Falls. After he had informed his sister of his arrival, she had asked that he headed to some school near the town to pick up a guest. The Original had obliged and that was why he was now stalking the halls of Mystic Falls High School – a very unoriginal name by the way – whilst shoving a middle-aged man along in front of him. He had heard Rebekah, and quite a few others, the moment he had entered the building with his hostage and though unfamiliar with his surroundings, he had no trouble finding his way. Ah, Mystic Falls. How he had _not_ missed this place.

Pushing the door open, he cautiously poked his head in to find his sister standing before half of the Mystic Falls gang, compelled no doubt to stay in their seats.

"Sister."

His interruption brought four pairs of eyes to him as the Original grinned at the sight before him.

"Look at this! You're even worse than Klaus," Kol chided, a smile still on his features.

"Kol, finally! Did you bring what I asked for?" Rebekah asked, tilting her head to one side and a smile gracing her lips. It was nice to finally have someone on her side.

Kol disappeared outside for a moment before roughly shoving Shane into the room, the professor visibly distressed. Rebekah smiled at the newcomer, her blonde curls bouncing as she approached him.

"You must be Shane."

Tapping Kol's shoulder, she left the room as the latter turned to follow, grabbing something on the countertop and putting it in his coat before he snagged Shane's collar and dragged him out after him.

* * *

A shadow watched the school, noticing an unfamiliar black car drive up and park before its occupants emerged. The man frowned, recognising Kol Mikaelson and a second man who looked mildly familiar. Pulling out his phone, he dialled a number.

"_Matthews, how nice to hear from you. Do you have news for me?"_

Matthews stared at the pair enter the building, his gaze steely.

"Kol Mikaelson is in town."

There was a short pause on the other side of the line before a reply sounded through. Matthews nodded to himself before hanging up his phone and returning to the bench he had been occupying, preparing for a long wait.

* * *

The average person can hold their breath for about a minute and a half. Once forced past that, the body will go into a panic and cause the victim to struggle and expend more energy, inevitably consuming whatever precious oxygen they have left. The carbon dioxide levels will climb higher than what would be called 'healthy' and the body eventually forces the person to breathe in though all that there is, is water. The liquid rushes into the airway and that is when the coughing starts. By this point, the brain and heart have been starved of oxygen for too long and unconsciousness sets in. Water flows into the lungs and the skin turns blue, the body, rigid. Then finally, death claims them. Kol did not know a lot about the modern world but this he did know.

And he was counting.

There was no purpose or meaning in beating someone to a pulp for information. They knew you would never deliver the final blow because they were still needed alive. They had leverage and Kol did not like that. And that was why he had been absurdly happy to find a filled water tank at the back of the room. Drowning was not like a beating; it makes you believe you will die, it makes you struggle and fight your own body but most of all, it elicits pure terror from its victim. Now this, Kol could work with. He had been steadily increasing the time he was holding the professor under the water and decreasing the time he was giving him to recover. The Original was growing mildly bored to be honest, the other man's struggle was hardly formidable but he was a tough nut to crack; Kol would enjoy breaking him. When his one minute and ten seconds were up, he pulled the soaking man out of the water, his victim's heart slamming hard against his chest and echoing in the vampire's ears.

"Where is the cure?!"

The professor stayed silent, panting and coughing as water trickled from his hair and down his chin. Rolling his eyes, Kol plunged the man's head back into the tank again and began counting. He really was pushing the limit; if the man did not start talking, the Original might just accidentally kill him. He waited until the time was up before yanking him back up from the tank, the man sputtering and convulsing.

"Where is the cure?" he repeated for the hundredth time. Still Shane refused to say anything, instead turning to look at Rebekah, who had just sauntered in. Neither of the siblings did anything to acknowledge one another's presence, Kol keeping his attention on his captive. The vampire smirked at the professor's valiant silence before forcing his head back underwater and beginning to count. After a short moment, Kol caught his sister's disapproving gaze and pulled the professor back up, water spraying everywhere.

"You're human, why do you want it anyway?" Rebekah attempted to reason with him, her arms stretched out in front of her. Shane took a moment to catch his breath before turning to face her.

"That's the beauty of this," he panted, leaning against the side of the tank, "You can have it; I just want Silas."

Silence descended upon the room for half a moment before something in Kol cracked. He recognized that name; practically every witch or coven he had ever met in his very long life had warned him against him. _Hell on earth _they had said. He grabbed Shane by the front of his collar and turned the still-wheezing man to face him, the smirk he normally wore wiped clean off his features.

"No!" he yelled, as if scolding a misbehaving child, "What do you know about Silas?

Shane actually had the nerve to smile.

"He's the world's first immortal being who just happens to be imprisoned with the cure," there was a mixture of awe and fanatic in the man's voice, "I want to free him."

Whatever had been cracking before snapped and Kol, using vampire speed so the man did not get the time to draw in and hold his breath, drove the man's head back into the water, fully intending to kill him.

"No!"

Rebekah was staring wide-eyed at her brother but did not comment. Kol was incensed, this was not happening. Shane was beginning to struggle, bubbles escaping his lips and floating up to the surface. Kol narrowed his eyes when his prisoner's struggles intensified. _First stage; _it would not take long. Shane continued to struggle futilely against the iron grip and Kol noticed him opening his mouth underwater. No air came out. _Second stage; _it was only a matter of time now. The man's chest was beginning to heave, trying to expel the water that had inevitably entered his lungs. Water was splashing out of the tank as Shane flailed his arms, his struggles growing weaker. _Third stage; _just a little more.

"Stop!" Rebekah yelled and Kol pulled the soaking man out of the tank, pulling his hand away from where he had been holding his victim's jacket with enough intensity to tear the seam. "He's of no use dead."

"Did you not hear what he said?" Kol yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the man who was slouched over the tank coughing and heaving, "Silas will kill us all sister."

His sister looked at him like he had lost his mind and Kol covered his face with his hand, going around her to get to the other side of the room. He could not stand being anywhere near the other man. He was fairly sure he would not be able to resist the urge to kill him.

"Silas does not exist," the younger Original reasoned, "He is a—a fairy tale made up to scare children into eating their vegetables."

Kol could not take this anymore; now he knew why he had shunned away from the idea of returning to Mystic Falls.

"Silas is very real."

Both Originals turned back to face the drenched professor.

"And I know where he's buried and soon, I'll have the spell that wakes him."

"Wait a second, you're lying," Kol started, "You can't get to him—"

"Without his tombstone?!" Shane practically yelled, "Dozens to die in a blood sacrifice? Believe me, I know; I've done it. Those massacres were a pain to engineer."

Whatever shred of chivalry Kol had left was torn down as he started to back away from the other two people in the room. This was not happening, Silas could not be raised. There had to be a way to stop it; he was going to stop it. He _had_ to stop it.

"You're the one who got the council blown up," Rebekah murmured, oblivious to her brother's quickly deteriorating state of mind.

"It was a noble sacrifice," Shane rationalized, still struggling to breathe, "and temporary. Because once I raise Silas, Silas will raise the dead."

Kol had tuned the other man out now, the corner of his peripheral vision catching sight of a long pole. He reached over to it, fingering the metal lightly.

"He will bring back every last soul who died on his behalf."

"No!" Kol roared, grabbing the metal pole and speeding over to the professor before Rebekah had time to stop him. He pierced his makeshift weapon through the man's abdomen, ramming him against a shelf as he watched the life drain out of his eyes. Waiting half a beat, he released the shaft and watched with relief as the man slid down onto the ground. Rebekah on the other hand, did not share his sentiments.

"Are you insane?!" she screeched, throwing her hands up in the air.

"You should be thanking me," Kol replied, remarkably calmer.

"You killed my only chance at finding the cure," Rebekah barked.

"Silas on the loose will be hell on earth. And frankly sister," Kol reached into his pocket to pull out the White Oak stake he had snagged back at the library, flipping it in his hand easily, "I don't think you can handle it."

"How'd you get that?" the blonde whispered, fear lighting up her eyes.

"Way too easily."

Kol waited for the threat to sink in, spinning the stake in his hand flippantly before he shouldered past his sister and opened the door, returning the weapon to his pocket.

* * *

Kol sauntered into the mansion, listening carefully for any signs of habitation. A short while later, he concluded that no one was home and took the liberty to show himself around. Nik was a control freak, arrogant, hot headed and particularly hard to get along with but Kol had to admit that his older brother had good tastes. The manor was exquisitely decorated down to the smallest detail, with the smell of mahogany and tapestry lingering in the air. Ancient porcelain vases adorned the occasional counter and the light was just right for vampires; not too bright but bright enough to create a homely atmosphere. Kol narrowed his eyes, realization dawning upon him. That was exactly what Nik had wanted to create: a home. But a home could not be built by contractors and bricks, it needed people, warmth, love and care and right now, the Mikaelson mansion was hollow and painfully devoid of it. At best, it looked like a high-class hotel, suitable and comfortable accommodation but not somewhere you would go to seek comfort. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Kol continued in his little excursion of his brother's estate, peeking into the rooms.

Eventually, he came upon the one that he knew his brother spent the most time in: the gallery. The room's wallpaper and decor were pretty much the same as the others that Kol had wandered into, with thick curtains lining the large rectangular windows that made up most of one wall. The floor space was dominated by easels holding completed masterpieces and blank canvases alike, some of which were carefully covered up with a simple white sheet. Nik never told anyone about what he thought or felt; he expressed it through his art. Kol fingered through the many pieces, finding the more recent ones to be darker than he would have thought to be reasonably healthy. There was a pile of abandoned sketches in one corner that had a strong resemblance to that pretty blonde vampire that his brother was currently fawning over and in another corner, a pile of abandoned materials that the hybrid was most probably going to dispose of.

Not finding anything that piqued his interests, Kol made to leave the room, stepping around a particularly large canvas whilst wondering how his brother was able to manoeuvre around the room without breaking anything. Just when he thought that he was in the clear, one of the white sheets got snagged onto his jacket and he accidentally pulled it off. Cursing, Kol made to return the cloth to its place when he noticed what it had been covering. It was an oil painting of scenery, depicting lush green forests and a slow flowing lake. A small cluster of huts were in one corner of the painting, the faint shadows of the children barely visible but still present. Kol's brows furrowed as recognition hit him. He spun around and caught sight of another canvas on the other side of the room: rows upon rows of maple trees turning orange in the autumn, their leaves slowly falling down to the forest floor. He turned and yanked another sheet off an easel and was greeted by a night time view of a town, the houses softly illuminated by candle light. A couple of the children were still wandering about outside, gathering tools as they helped their parents to pack up for the day. Kol stood rooted to the spot, an odd wave of emotion flooding him. He recognised that forest, the lake, the people even.

Nik was painting _home._

* * *

Stefan trudged down the corridors, the scent of blood pungent in the air. The hospital, no matter how much the employees attempted to bleach its sterile walls, was almost permanently permeated with the scent of blood and the vampire was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable. He checked his phone for a moment, reading through Bonnie's text message again and then glancing through the various signs on the walls, looking for the ward. Turning a corner, he quickly located the room and went inside, the only inhabitant looking up from where she was nestled upon the lumpy mattress, her eyes small and fearful.

"Hey, April."

The teenager looked traumatised to say the least, her abdominal area, where she had abruptly begun bleeding from when Kol had stabbed Shane, covered in white gauze.

"What're you doing here?"

Stefan sighed, sliding the phone back in his pocket before taking a seat next to her.

"Do you know what happened today?"

April slowly shook her head, her hand running over the rough bandage subconsciously.

"Bonnie is a witch," the teenager showed no visible reaction to that particular piece of news, "she was trying to save someone but she accidentally linked you to him. He got stabbed and that's why you started bleeding."

April nodded before looking the vampire right in the eye, "Thank you, for telling me the truth."

Stefan raised an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. April sighed, looking away from him.

"It's just that all of you have been lying to me for so long. I have these—these gaps in my memory and I don't know what's going on and I keep finding these wounds all over me and I don't know where they came from. I'm sorry about what happened with you guys and Rebekah; I didn't think that she would hurt you. All she told me was that she would teach you all a lesson for lying and I didn't think—"

Stefan reached over and pat her hand lightly, trying to comfort her.

"It was wrong for us to lie, April, but you have to understand that the supernatural world is a dangerous place. We compelled you to forget all those things that happened to you because we wanted to keep you safe, we were _trying_ to keep you safe. We didn't want to put you or any others in the town in harm's way and I'm sorry for what happened. Bonnie is too."

April nodded, letting out a long sigh. Stefan waited for a moment before speaking again.

"I came here to offer you something," the vampire began, "I could compel all the memories away, make you think that something else happened or I could heal you. But it's your choice April. We're not taking it away from you anymore."

April shook her head, a small smile on her features.

"No, I don't want to forget and you don't have to heal me either, it's okay. I just hope that I won't be lied to anymore."

Stefan nodded understandingly, getting back up to his feet.

"Well, is there anything you might need me to do?"

The teenager thought for a moment before continuing.

"Could you get me some vervain? I think most of it bled out and I feel safer with it."

"Sure."

Bidding his goodbyes, Stefan left the girl to herself, heading back out of the ward. Things were becoming complicated thanks to Kol's involvement; they would need to find a way to deal with him soon. Pulling out his phone again, the vampire texted Bonnie, assuring her that April was indeed alright. Distracted by his typing, he did not realise that he had bumped into someone until he did.

"Stefan."

The vampire finally looked up before a smile lit up his features.

"Meredith."

The brunette doctor did not look all that happy though.

"Could you guys hold out a little on the blood bags? The loss is becoming a little too obvious."

Stefan frowned, not following her. Neither he nor Damon had been particularly fond of stealing blood bags recently. They had adopted a much simpler system of taking enough at a go, informing Meredith, and then storing it all in the freezer in their basement.

"We didn't take any."

Meredith though, did not look appeased.

"Well then tell all the other vampires around to be a little more discrete could you?"

Stefan nodded before watching the doctor disappear down the corridor, frowning, and quickly decided that the loss was probably due to Rebekah who had only just been un-daggered. Shaking his head, he continued back out the hospital.

* * *

Kol sat silently on the couch that he had occupied all those months ago, staring at the fire as it burned in the hearth, eating at the wood. He had been at the manor for quite a while now and it was late though that was not a real problem to him; they were vampires after all and they had been born to hunt at night. The gallery tour had hacked at his defences and memories that the Original usually kept suppressed were threatening to break through. He had no idea how long he sat there, simply staring at the flames as their flare reflected off his eyes.

_Niklaus was laughing when he reached over to their youngest sibling; the little boy at only three years of age, giggling happily. Kol watched the two amusedly from where he was sitting with Rebekah helping their mother with some of the chores. He wanted to play with their little brother too but his sister had dragged him over to help her after their mother had left. Henrik's laughter echoed through the hut as Nik lifted him up and tossed him lightly in the air before catching him with a huff._

"_You're getting heavy, baby brother."_

_Kol grinned at the sight. Nik used to do that with him too. It was exhilarating, spending just a few seconds up in the air, feeling so free and light. Rebekah, only a year younger than him had had her share as well but was more scared than anything. Kol could not really understand her; there was nothing to be scared of. Nik would catch them, he always did. The door creaked open as Elijah and Finn returned with their father. The laughter in the house immediately ebbed away as Mikael scowled at the sight._

"_Niklaus, what are you doing?"_

_The blonde boy set his brother back on his feet, and lowered his head._

"_I was just playing with Henrik, father."_

"_Well, get back to work! All of you!" he tacked the last bit on when he noticed that Kol and Rebekah had stopped to look at him._

_Mikael promptly turned back around after instructing his two eldest sons to deal with their catch and left. Henrik sniffed and put his head on his knees like how he always did when he was upset. Elijah left the deer on the ground before he and Finn approached their youngest brother. Finn picked him up to shush him, softly humming a lullaby that their mother sung to them when they were younger. Elijah motioned to Kol and Rebekah to come over and the two abandoned their quest to peel the potatoes, running up to their brother._

"_Father is scary," Rebekah whimpered, burying her face in her eldest brother's shirt. Elijah ran a soothing hand down her golden locks._

"_Father has indeed been in a foul mood recently," Elijah mused before continuing, "Even today, he deliberately picked a fight with the town blacksmith."_

"_Why is father so angry?" Kol asked. Their dad had been so nice to them before but that had been a long time ago, before Henrik had been born. Now, the young boy had trouble simply trying to recall the last time their father had smiled._

"_He is always angry, there's no reason to it," Nik proffered, sulking._

"_Niklaus, then you must make sure you don't upset him further," Elijah gently coaxed._

"_But I wasn't even—"_

"_What our brother is trying to say is that father has been very wound up recently and we should all watch what we say and do around him," Finn interjected, stroking Henrik's back as the latter began to doze off._

"_But how do we do that?" Kol questioned. Their father was unpredictable; how were they supposed to know what they should or should not say?_

_Elijah smiled at him before smiling at each one of his siblings in turn._

"_Together. We work together, warn one another, help one another and when we get scolded," he grinned again at that, "We'll all take the heat together."_

_Rebekah looked up from his shirt, grinning._

"_Together?"_

"_Yes, together. Always and forever."_

Kol blinked.

_He was scared, he did not remember the last time he had been so afraid. He stood rooted to the ground as he watched his brother rock back and forth from where he was seated, sobbing painfully into his knees. Rebekah was kneeled next to him, hushing him gently. Elijah and Finn were away with their father in the woods again and their mother was nowhere to be seen._

"_Nik?" Kol tried his voice, and found it shaky and soft._

_His elder brother slowly raised his tear streaked face and looked at his brother mournfully._

"_I'm sorry, Kol. I'm sorry, Rebekah. I didn't mean to—I didn't think that—" Niklaus blubbered, sobs wrecking his body. Beside him, Rebekah was silent, tears rolling down her pink cheeks. Kol took a step towards his siblings, the hot sting of tears burning the back of his eyes. It could not be true… Henrik could not be…_

"_Niklaus!" the sharp voice of their mother tore through the silence that had descended upon the siblings as she threw herself towards them, her hand coming up to cover her mouth when she caught sight of Henrik, bloody and mutilated on the cold ground._

"_Henrik…"_

_Nik started to shake his head. Who exactly he was denying though, was unknown to them all._

"_I'm sorry, mother. I didn't— He was— I— I'm sorry."_

_Kol was backing away from them now. The pain was catching up to him and he did not like it. He did not want to hurt; he did not want to cry. He wanted to go wander the woods with his little brother, play in the cool water and catch the fish. He wanted to climb trees with him, tell him stories that he made up with his imagination about noble kings and hunters. He wanted to… He wanted… Kol's breathing was growing faster now. He could not look at his brother like that, unmoving, bloody and __**dead**__. Henrik had always been such a happy child, full of energy and spirit. Even after the particularly bad days when the siblings would get an undeserved scolding or punishment from their father, he would always be the one who could keep smiling, telling them everything was alright and that father would be okay soon. Kol blinked, his vision was getting blurry now. He did not want this… He did not want this…_

_Turning on his heel, the teenager took off running right into the woods._

The Original was jerked out of his reverie when he heard the door swing open.

"Kol?" the hybrid's voice was loud to him even from where he was. Kol blinked, the smirk returning to his lips as he got up from where he was sitting and went over to greet his brother.

"Hello, Nik, just thought I should drop by since I was in town."

The Original hybrid grinned at his brother before following him back into the foyer where the fire was still burning.

"And what are you doing still up?"

Kol shrugged.

"I just thought it would have been good to wait for you to return. Speaking of which, do you mind if I stay here for the next few days?"

Klaus stared at his brother as if he had just spouted another head.

"Of course, Kol. You're always welcome to stay!"

Kol smiled thinly at him before making a wide gesture around the house.

"Where's Bekah? I thought you two were living together."

Nik looked visibly upset as he continued.

"Our sister is throwing a tantrum at me."

"Well, you _did_ dagger her. Again."

Nik raised an eyebrow.

"She told you?"

Kol nodded, grinning to himself.

"She called me when I was in Los Angeles just to complain and had me travel across the country."

Klaus laughed but it did not reach his eyes.

"So what have you been up to recently?" Kol enquired.

"The latest town gossip speaks of a cure for vampirism. I wish to find it. But for that, I require a map from a hunter from the Brotherhood of the Five. Have you heard of them?

"Not really," Kol lied smoothly. He was fairly certain that he knew more about the Five than Nik and Bekah did combined

"Well, your Denver buddy Jeremy Gilbert happens to be the town's resident hunter and I'm going to make sure he finishes that map." Kol raised an eyebrow. _Jeremy?_ _Well that was unfortunate._

"Jeremy? I did not see him around today."

"He's at the Gilbert lake house. Damon Salvatore claims that he wishes to train him.

Kol rolled his eyes and Klaus snickered.

"I have employed a more efficient tactic to get the boy to complete his mark though."

"And may I ask what that is?"

"I turned an entire bar full of people for his killing needs."

_Bingo._

"Well that was nice of you and since you're here now rather than examining a map, I'm going to assume that he refused to kill them and you sent them after him?"

Klaus laughed, walking over to the cabinet and pouring himself a glass of scotch.

"You know me too well, brother."

Yes, Kol did know him well, well enough in fact to have predicted that his brother would spill his plan to him. Since he had thwarted Bekah's side of the chase, he still had Nik and the vampire entourage to deal with. _One step at a time._ Jeremy was the key here and so long as he could stop him…

"Well, I'm going to bed so see you!"

Klaus waved his brother away, downing the rest of his drink and heading back to the alcohol cabinet to pour himself another. Kol returned to the room he had occupied the last time he had been here and sprawled on the bed. What he knew now was that two of his siblings, as well as the ragtag band of Elena's mindless minions, were all going after the cure. He had gotten rid of their access to the location and there was nothing he could do about the massacre but he still needed to ensure that the map was never completed and if possible, the tombstone never found. Kol rolled over in the bed, sighing. He pulled out the White Oak stake from his jacket and stared at its form in the moonlight. Silas could not be allowed to rise.

And he would stop it, whatever the cost.

* * *

A car pulled up next to an empty house, a single figure emerging from within. Matthews stood on the pavement, waiting patiently as the other came up to him, a frown on their features.

"What's going on?"

Matthews shook his head, his gaze distant.

"I was walking around town and happened to pass the high school when I spotted Kol Mikaelson and another male enter the compound. I am unsure as to their purpose though."

The figure nodded, playing with a knife in their hand.

"Good, you and the others can now go and find out what happened."

Matthews nodded before frowning slightly, as if something just occurred to him.

"There was a little something though, an ambulance pulled up at the high school a few hours after they had gone in."

The figure turned back to face him, smiling slightly as the silver blade reflected the waning moonlight.

"Well that's interesting. Why don't you tell me a little more?"

* * *

Kol awoke with a start, running a hand through his tousled hair as he propped himself up on one elbow. The house was empty again; Nik must have left to resume his diabolical plan of destruction. Kol was particularly conscious of the presence of the White Oak stake in his jacket pocket, pressing into his side, as he rose and headed to the bathroom to wash up. His brother had mentioned the Gilbert lake house and a nearby bar when he had been sharing about his plan and the two sites had become his newest places-to-be. Since Kol highly doubted that Jeremy would have killed everyone that his brother had turned, there was still a chance that the Original would be able to get the vampires first. Sighing, he ran a wet hand over his face before exiting the room and leaving the empty house behind.

* * *

Kol quietly hummed to himself as he tore through the woods, recognizing the various flora and fauna despite having had been gone for so long. He had contemplated driving but decided that it would be inconvenient if he ran into anything that needed killing halfway there. So he had chosen the more conventional alternative. He had checked the internet for bars around Mystic Falls and had found very few to work with. It was a good thing though; that meant less running and more time for him to bring a premature death to Nik's budding master plan.

By the time he arrived – it was the third bar he checked – he knew he had found the right place. The squat building was entirely desolate despite it clearly still being in business. There were cars parked outside but no one was emerging to drive them home. Kol smiled, listening to the sounds inside. There were heartbeats, too many to count effectively, and slow and unnatural. There was also the occasional creak of wood beneath feet but the inhabitants were otherwise silent, _too_ silent. Kol promptly went over to the front doors, sparing a quick glance at the window panes, the other side of which were blocked by several stacks of tables and chairs, before pushing the doors open and flooding the room in bright sunlight. The effect was immediate; about five shadows that would have been in the firing range sped to the other side of the room. The Original grinned, walking over to the cowering newborns who had banded together in wake of their brutal circumstances.

"Hello, darlings."

"Who are you?" one brave soul who was standing near the entry to a walk-in freezer questioned, his eyes narrowed to slits.

Kol smiled.

"I'm the brother of the man who turned you. Looks like he has made quite a mess now, hasn't he?" Kol clucked his tongue chidingly, "And now I have to clean up after him."

The moment he completed his sentence, two valiant individuals dashed forward at him, fangs bared and arms outstretched to grab him. Kol had enough time to flash them both a grin before he plunged his arms into their chests and ripped their hearts out. The room was silent for a moment as everyone watched their fallen comrades drop to their knees before falling to the ground, dead.

"Who's next?" Kol taunted, spreading his arms out demonstratively. There was a pause as a pregnant silence descended upon the room.

Chaos erupted.

All at once, five vampires had lunged at him, all armed to attack. Someone snapped a chair leg off and launched it at him as another threw a broken beer bottle. Kol turned and caught both projectiles easily, the latter cutting his hand when he accidentally caught it on the wrong end, and threw them both back at his attackers. The first one dropped dead on the ground, impaled by the wood, while the second was clawing at his neck where the glass had buried itself into flesh. Before Kol's wound had even healed, he had already grabbed two of his five attackers and flung them with the ease of flicking a wrist, sending them flying into a clutter of tables and chairs. One of the three remaining vampires managed to grab his arm but his strength was nothing compared to the thousand year old Original and he easily broke his wrist before ripping his heart from his chest. The final two vampires suffered the fate of their predecessor, both collapsing to the ground in bloody heaps.

The violent deaths of four more of their number seemed to spur the others into action as they all emerged from their hiding places and dived at the Original. He managed to kill three more before he was tackled down to the ground by two particularly stocky males. Kol was unfazed though as he planted both his feet on their abdomens and pushed upward, flipping all three of them and putting himself on top instead. Before they realized what had happened, they were dead. Without waiting a beat, he sped up over to where the two vampires he had thrown previously were struggling to their feet and ripped both their hearts from their chests, tossing them lightly to the side. He spun around and grabbed a lean female who had charged at him and threw her straight out the blocked window, letting the sun finish the job. Light flooded in and the rest of the newborns pulled back. Kol smiled, pulling a chair over towards him as he snapped one of its legs off.

"Let's play dodge ball, shall we?"

Kol grinned before taking aim and sending the leg into one of the vampires, the latter not having had enough time to process his statement, let alone dodge the attack. Smirking, Kol pulled the other three legs of the chair off and sent them flying all at once. Two of the stakes flew true and impaled their targets but the last one was caught by its mark. Kol raised an eyebrow; she was the final survivor.

"Oh, feisty."

The newborn launched the stake at the Original but before it had gotten close to him, Kol was already next to her and had ripped her heart out, tossing it onto the floor. Kol waited a beat, listening for any more attackers before deciding he had killed them all and got ready to clean up the mess. Grabbing his latest kill by the arm, he dragged her over to the freezer, a trail of blood left behind them. He had just dumped the body on the other end of the room when he heard a sound he did not make and spun around, grabbing the vampire's throat. The latter screeched, clawing at the Original's hand as recognition hit; he was the one who had thrown the bottle at him. Smiling, Kol swiftly released his hold on the vampire's neck before taking his entire head off, leaving a bloody mess on the floor as blood shot everywhere, splattering the ceiling. Shrugging, the last vampire standing left the room to fetch the next body.

* * *

A lone brunette slipped out of the office, clicking the door shut behind her. She pulled her phone from her pocket and quickly scanned through a new message she had received, a slight frown on her features before she typed a quick reply and hit 'send'. She abruptly paused when she heard voices further down the corridor, swiftly turning back around, pushing a door open and disappearing inside, ghosting down the stairway.

* * *

Kol exited the bar and sped into the woods. He knew he had not entirely stopped the plan per se but it was a good start nonetheless. If Damon succeeded, the map would be gone and it would take those fools forever before they would be able to find another hunter. And even if Damon did not, the only thing they could do would be to trap and lock him up and that would take him out of the picture. In that case though, Kol would have to resort to Plan B: rip Jeremy's arm off. He did not like the idea very much despite its necessity. It somehow just felt better to have someone else kill your pretend-friend than have to rip off said pretend-friend's arm well, in front of him. He did not have many options though, as much as the thought irked him. Eventually, Kol came to a stop when he realised that he recognised the part of the forest he was in. He had no idea why he had gone there but regretted it the moment he set foot on the plot of land. Old crumbling stones stood in crooked rows, covered in dead vegetation and shrubs. Most of the stones held no semblance to what they had been once upon a time, gone far too long ago to be remembered, left at the mercy of the weather and time. And one of those stones, one of those faded names, had been forgotten by him.

It was the first place he had ever felt weak; it was the first place he had ever felt strong.

Despite the passing of time, he remembered exactly where _he_ was. Driven by an unknown force, Kol walked forward, deeper into the graveyard. He stopped when he got to the spot, his mind conjuring images of the exact same place, only a thousand years ago. The corners of his lips quirked upwards but on the inside, he felt like he was being torn apart. Reaching a shaky hand out, he patted the top of the crumbled stone.

"Hey, Henrik."

_It was raining; Kol wondered why it __**always**__ rained during these things. Was it some sort of condolence sent from the sky? Or was it some sort of foreboding? He followed his mother and siblings as they began their trek into the woods where the local burial ground stood. He had never seen any of them as solemn as they were now. Rebekah was silently tearing up and Nik had lagged out of formation, trailing behind them, his head hung low. Elijah and Finn were up front with their mother, their expressions wiped clean of any emotion. The burial ground was in view now, all the preparations already set up. Kol felt shivers run down his spine as they entered the neglected field._

_The siblings had often joked about how unreasonably creepy the graveyard was; they had shared their own make-believe ghost stories about it. But now their brother was here, in this too depressing place. He was their first family member to be buried here; their other brother, Aaron, had been buried back in the Old World after he had passed from the plague. Kol did not know how he felt; weak because he had failed to save their brother? Or strong because he was the only one here who could still keep a straight face while they watched their little brother get lowered into the depths of his grave? Kol thought this place did not fit Henrik; his brother was full of light and this place was nothing but darkness. Their father had disappeared since the crack of dawn; Kol had heard him leave because he had spent the night lying in his bed, wide awake, talking to Henrik._

_Or rather, he had been talking to the sky, because Henrik was not here anymore._

_The box hit the ground with a loud thud and Kol heard a painful sound escape Rebekah. She was the youngest one now, as her older brother, he should be comforting her. But it felt useless for some reason. What was he supposed to say? He's in a better place now? He's happier now? The thought felt disgusting to him. How was he supposed to say that when he did not know if it was true? They would just be consoling themselves with false promises. Instead, Kol placed a hand on Rebekah's shoulder, hoping that she would get his message. She evidently did because she scurried over next to him and buried her face in his shoulder. _

_Kol did not cry._

* * *

The sun was going down now, the last rays of light staining the world orange. This place was not so scary anymore; what was there to be afraid of when you were an all powerful immortal? Instead, with the cover of the ghost stories gone, all that was left was neglect and grief. Kol shifted on where he was seated next to his brother's tombstone. He wondered what he would think about all of this; about the feuds, the inter-sibling daggering, the fighting, the threats... He would probably have shook his head and told them that they were all just being stupid. Kol smiled slightly at that; their youngest brother did have a knack at pointing such things out. Oddly enough, it was peaceful here, as if the troubles of the world could not catch up to him. He missed his brother, he really did. He had no one now. He was waging a war against everyone and though he could feel the form of the White Oak stake – the only thing that could kill him – in his pocket, he knew he would eventually lose. He twisted around and ran a hand down the face of the tombstone, where the engraving was supposed to be, and sighed. He should get his brother out of this place or at the very least, fix the damned stone. It was getting dark now and neither his older brother nor his sister had contacted him. Damon must have failed; or not succeeded yet. Either way, Kol had to move out of his brother's house; Nik would not hesitate to act on his threat and he doubted that the hybrid would find his brother's reasoning very amusing. Getting back up to his feet, Kol turned and spared one long look at the grave of his dead brother before he started back towards town.

* * *

"Where the bloody hell is it?!" Rebekah snapped, flipping the entire table in blatant frustration. Stefan watched her disinterestedly, poking the dead man with the tip of his shoe. They had been in the office for quite a long while now and still failed to find the tombstone.

The shrill ringing of Stefan's cell phone drew both vampires' attention as the younger of the two pulled the offending object out of his back pocket. Raising an eyebrow at him, Rebekah snagged it, grinning, before its owner could protest and put it to her ear.

"Hello Elena."

There was a short pause before the caller spoke. _"What did you do to Stefan?"_

Rebekah flashed a smile at the other vampire who just shrugged at her.

"Rescued him from his old, dull life, but it keeps calling. Stefan's not in the mood to talk right now."

"_Then he can listen,"_ Elena pressed on, _"I know you might not care about me right now, Stefan, but Kol compelled Damon to kill Jeremy. They're somewhere in the tunnels and I—it's one giant maze down here, and I can't find them. So if you still care about the cure or about Jeremy then maybe you can come help."_ There was a pause as Elena waited, as if she were hoping that Stefan would respond. Rebekah shot the vampire a questioning gaze but he did not look any more inclined to speak to the doppelganger. A moment later, Elena continued with an "okay" before the line went dead.

"Well," Rebekah started, tossing the phone back to its owner, who deftly caught it, "That is an interesting predicament, for both of us." They looked at one another for a moment before unanimously turning toward the exit and heading outside.

* * *

Kol emptied the bottle of ash into the lake, watching as the dust dissolved into the water and was washed away. He had managed to acquire Nik's stash of daggers and White Oak Ash before Rebekah had caught up to him though his sister was still in possession of one final weapon, a weapon she had turned on him. Kol shook his head, tossing the bottle lightly to the side. He had buried the daggers in random spots throughout the forest before he had come here to get rid of the ash. After that, he turned around and headed back into the woods, following a familiar path. A short while later, he was back beside Henrik's grave and staring blankly at the moon-illuminated stones. He had no idea why he was here again but it seemed like it was the only place he had left to go.

He had threatened to _kill_ Rebekah; she must hate him now. And Nik, he had obviously been angry that his brother had intervened with his plan to complete the Hunter's Mark and sent Damon after his map but the hybrid had been more than incensed when he had pulled him off Rebekah. And Elijah… … Kol had no idea why he had mentioned their oldest brother at all. Elijah was gone, disappeared with the wind, without a care in the world about what was happening here in Mystic Falls. Finn, wherever he was now, must hate him too. He did not even know what had happened to the body, whether Nik or Bekah had buried him and where, if they did. But most of all, he had promised vengeance for his brother but had failed to live up to it. Now, he did not even know how to stop them from raising Silas and Nik would never let him kill the doppelganger. He had failed his brother; he had failed his family. Kol pulled his legs towards his chest though he did not feel cold at all. Did Henrik hate him too? He turned towards the cold stone, seeking an answer. The clouds overhead shifted with the wind and moonlight bathed the grave. Kol smiled to himself. No, Henrik understood. The only problem though, was that he was not here. Kol sighed, leaning his head against the cold stone. The forest was coming alive again, the nightlife emerging to hunt. Kol considered that option; he could go drink his problems away, vent his frustration on some random party goers. It had worked before, surely it would work again. But instead, he simply pulled his phone out of his pocket and stuffed the earphones in before shutting his eyes.

* * *

Elena stood on one side of the island in the kitchen, watching her brother pull apart and then reassemble his gun. He was clearly frustrated.

"This is never gonna end. If Kol doesn't kill me first, then Klaus is just gonna force me to kill more innocent people. How many is it going to take? Ten? A hundred?!"

Elena looked up at her brother, ignoring an odd tugging in her chest that had started ever since she had left the Salvatore boarding house. Damon was compelled. Kol compelled Damon so if Kol was gone, Damon would not be compelled anymore. And Jeremy needs to kill vampires…

"If you kill one Original vampire, their entire sire line will die with them," Elena started, "That's thousands, maybe tens of thousands of vampires." Jeremy was frowning now, looking at Elena as if she had just declared she wanted to commit genocide, which apparently she proceeded to affirm.

"Kol compelled Damon to kill you. You're gonna kill Kol instead."

The siblings simply stared at one another as Elena began to nod to herself. Jeremy frowned, not liking the look in his sister's eyes but nodded.

New plan: They were going to kill Kol.

* * *

**A/N: Duhn duhn duhn!~ They're going to kill Kol *gasp in fake shock* Hahah, as if I'm going to do that! Or will I? LOLOL**

**Anyways, so I've pretty much caught up with the show Kol-involvement wise. Sorry if the transitions felt a little less smooth than normal. There were a lot of Kol scenes in these two episodes and though my first draft included them, I later took them out and attempted to build on the scenes before and after the canon ones instead. Hope it was alright :) **

**That aside, important question: As you all might have noticed, I included a small segment of April. ****Pastor Young's daughter? Kind of irritating in the show? Rebekah's potential friend at one point? Ring any bells? LOL So, I have been considering giving her a minor story line in the future, nothing major just some MFG stuff. Then again, not exactly a story line, more like involvement, like Matt-level involvement. But of course, I know very well that she isn't exactly a very well liked character in the fan base and honestly, though I don't mind her, I'm not a fan either. So, based on what you guys saw of her (that'll be her base personality i.e. it can grow, in this fic if I do write her), do you all want her to be banished to Jamie land or should I attempt to build her character? I don't want to waste time on someone people don't wanna see at all so do gimme your opinions!**


	10. Chapter 9: Views to a Kill

**A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS! A little belated but Fanfiction was down so not my fault :/ So we've finally arrived at the end of Part I! :D *pops confetti* This is MUCH shorter than my usual chapter lengths (like half) but since this occurred during the time of "A View to a Kill", which is an extremely Kol-centric episode, and I'm still on my crusade to avoid canon, I decided to just leave it as it is instead of boring all of you by repeating what we all know happened in that episode. So now we shall finally see what the hell I was trying to do for the past eight chapters hahah~ Anyways, I noticed that I had segments of "**_Last time_**" ****in my earlier chapters but forgot to put them in my later ones so I've updated all of those already.**

**Important A/N at the bottom of this chapter but till then, I shall disrupt you all no further.**

**Thanks to my two reviewers! ^^ : **_crystalclaes and ShiloCoulter._

___Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries TV series or any of its characters; those belong to the CW network and all other respective owners. This is purely for entertainment._

* * *

_Last time:_

_"If you kill one Original vampire, their entire sire line will die with them," Elena started, "That's thousands, maybe tens of thousands of vampires." Jeremy was frowning now, looking at Elena as if she had just declared she wanted to commit genocide, which apparently she proceeded to affirm._

_"Kol compelled Damon to kill you. You're gonna kill Kol instead."_

_The siblings simply stared at one another as Elena began to nod to herself. Jeremy frowned, not liking the look in his sister's eyes but nodded._

_New plan: They were going to kill Kol._

* * *

**Chapter 9: Views to a Kill**

Kol awoke when the sun began to rise. It was a natural instinct of their kind; a fight-or-flight response to a possible threat. Stretching, he took a moment to remember why he was in a graveyard before standing up, his eyes taking a short while to adjust to the light. He took a moment simply to appreciate the sun rise before something occurred to him; he had gotten rid of Silas' location, the map was a little too heavily guarded at the moment and the tombstone and massacres were a lost cause but there was something he had not tried to get rid of just yet: the witch for the spell. Glancing around him, he left the grave and headed back to Mystic Falls.

* * *

April walked hastily down the sidewalk, her eyes flitting from side to side as she observed her surroundings, rubbing her hands over one another nervously. She started scratching at the rough gauze that her wound_ had been_ under, peeling at the medical tape anxiously as doleful eyes scanned the many buildings she passed. _Where are they? _The brunette jerked to a stop on the sidewalk, her hand hesitantly reaching to her pocket where her phone was. Then, the muscles tensed up and she pulled away, continuing her trek through the town. _She had to find them. She had to find them fast._

* * *

Kol simply stayed kneeling on the ground for a moment, trying to catch his breath. It had been a long time since he had last had any bones broken – as an Original, they were built to be sturdier than your average vampire. But the witch had snapped what he felt to be his wrist, shin and one or two ribs, all in a matter of seconds. He had never felt magic so strong before, and especially not from someone her age. Frowning, he thought back a little harder. Maybe he did, once, back in the day when he had encountered the cult of Silas' followers. They had had a witch with them, the one and only person Kol had come across in his thousand years who had fully mastered the art of Expression. The world must have a balance and just like how there was magic that was governed by the rules of nature, there was magic that went against it. Expression: it was magic without limits; _power_ without limits. The witch back then had completely lost it, consumed in the same darkness that had granted her strength.

That had been a hard fight.

But even back then, Kol had managed to kill the woman though he had had help. Now he was not entirely sure if he could take down the teenager. While he did not know this Bonnie – he had heard her name being mentioned several times now – character personally, he knew she was descended from the Bennett line and the Bennett line was one of the most, if not the most, powerful witch line he had ever met. There was no telling what she could do, though one thing was sure; attacking her was not going to get him anywhere. Feeling the last of his wounds heal, Kol took a shaky step upwards, getting back to his feet and testing how his legs would hold his weight. After a short moment, he took a step forward and made to leave the school. The witch was not going anywhere, at least not at the moment, so he had to revert to his original plan.

This was not going to be pretty.

* * *

Bonnie sat silently on the couch in her home, fingers trembling as her eyes flitted back and forth from the front door. She had barely managed to escape from Kol and the paranoia-ridden part of her was still fairly certain the homicidal Original was going to try again. Her phone shook in her hand before it vibrated, startling the witch. A single message appeared on the screen, the sender's name highlighted: Jeremy. The witch opened the message and felt a small wave of calm come over her as she read through the message's contents which were mainly the teenage hunter's attempts to reassure her. Carefully, Bonnie put her phone back down as she fingered the necklace Shane had given her, feeling the cold texture that she had already memorised. She had developed the nervous habit of grabbing it.

"**Bonnie."**

The witch's head snapped back up as she whipped around, looking for the source of the voice. She jolted back up to her feet before spinning around, her eyes looking for anything, or anyone. Only silence greeted her though as she sat back down on the couch, holding on to the necklace as if it was the only thing keeping her sane. The door to her home burst open as her father sauntered in, a scowl upon his features as he took in his daughter's lithe figure on the couch.

"You're home. Good, because I'm not letting you back out," Rudy decided before turning away from her, oblivious to his daughter's distress.

Bonnie's fingers further tightened over the white stone, feeling a mixture of rage and irritation overtake the prior fear. After all these years of abandoning her, he had waltzed back into her life and sent everything to hell. He had no right; he had no right to lead this town and he had no right to control her.

"My friends need me."

Rudy spun back on his heel to face her again, his brows furrowing.

"Well, I'm sure your friends can take care of themselves without you for now."

"My friends need me," Bonnie repeated, the last shreds of fear gone as she felt _power_ course through her veins, filling every empty space.

"**Bonnie…"**

Part of her registered the fact that her father had opened his mouth to say something but she did not hear anymore. Instead, her surroundings grew louder as the stone seemingly gained a pulse, throbbing energy into her hand, pumping it through her veins. Her father's voice was drowned out as he froze, glancing around him in what almost resembled fear. The witch stared at the man, her fingers clenching into fists before there was a loud crack and then wood splintered, books flew off shelves as the many little ornaments that adorned the little house were spent hurtling from where they had been moments before, crashing into walls and landing in shards upon the floor. Bonnie yelled, attempting to pull her hand away from her necklace but it refused to budge, as pain shot through her skull, as if it had been set ablaze. The last thing she was conscious of was that voice again, present yet imaginary, cold and soft all at the same time.

"**Bonnie…"**

* * *

April pushed the doors of the Grill open, her eyes scanning the room in search of a certain blonde quarterback. When she came up empty, she headed to the waiter on duty instead, hands clenching and unclenching at her sides.

"Hey, err... do you know where Matt is?"

The teenager - a dark haired, lean male - simply shook his head, frowning.

"He changed shifts with me... again. Said there was something urgent," he rolled his eyes as if he had heard that excuse one too many times, "He never tells me where he goes though."

April nodded, feeling new weight fall on her shoulders.

"Okay, thanks for the help."

The teenager simply shrugged before turning back to the table he had been cleaning as April left the Grill, renewed trepidation looming over her.

* * *

Jeremy pushed the door to the house open, his senses at their peak as he tried to determine whether his sister and more importantly, Kol, were still around. He raised his firearm as he closed the door, adrenaline already beginning to course through his veins. His heart skipped a beat when he heard footsteps, instinctively spinning around to aim the barrel of the gun at the intruder. When he noticed it was his sister though, he lowered his weapon.

"I'm sorry. He left. I mean, I – I tried to stall as long as I could," Elena stammered, sighing as she walked up to him. There was a short pause before the doorbell rang, startling both of them.

"That's Bonnie," Jeremy stated, a hint of disappointment in his voice, "She was right behind me."

Elena spared a glance at her brother before stepping over to the door and pulling it open. But what greeted her on the other side was anything but Bonnie.

"I've considered your request for a truce. Request denied."

Elena felt her heart race as she slammed the door shut. He had heard them; he must have heard them… And that door was not going to hold.

"I'm sorry," Kol yelled, incensed, "I've already been invited in!"

A single kick was all it took for the door to be thrown open, slamming the wall on the other side. Kol sauntered in, enraged. He should have known better than to believe anything that doppelganger had said. Looking around and failing to spot them, he started forward. The house was tiny, and if they tried to run, he would hear them.

"Hide and seek?" he yelled, ensuring that the volume was loud enough to carry his words through the house, "Fine by me."

Kol started his search through the first floor, scanning the corners and rooms. He had just reached the kitchen when something occurred to him. His brother, his thoroughly pissed-off brother, who was so horribly obsessed with finding the cure, had to be in on this. There was no other way in hell that the Gilbert clan would have dared to pull this stunt unless they knew Nik would not go after them if they succeeded. Cursing under his breath, he pulled out his phone and called the hybrid.

"_Well, if it isn't the happy homicidal maniac,"_ Klaus chimed, sounding amused. Kol though, was less than happy.

"Did you know that your darling former blood bag and her brother are trying to kill me?" he snapped, peeking around a corner before heading into the next room.

"_What?"_ His brother's attempt at ignorance only angered him further.

"Don't pretend like you're not in on it," he barked, unable to help but feel betrayed, "Your obsession to find the cure clearly trumps any sibling loyalty you once felt."

"_I don't know what you're talking about."_ Klaus muttered, sounding genuinely confused. Kol did not want to hear anymore though.

"I'm going to rip off Jeremy's arm and kill Elena just for sport," he hissed, "Then I'm coming for you."

Without bothering to wait for any retorts, Kol hung up and headed back towards the front door. The siblings were definitely not on the first floor so he was going to head upstairs. He heard her approach and had just enough time to look up before an arrow whizzed through the air and pierced his thigh, eliciting a grunt of pain before his attacker disappeared back upstairs. Ignoring the sting that was flaring through his leg, Kol ripped the projectile out, discarding it on the floor before giving chase.

He followed the doppelganger's fresh scent to her bedroom, spotting the brunette through a crack in the door as she pushed a dresser in an attempt to block it. Stepping over, the Original planted both hands on the wood before pushing against her, pain shooting through his injured leg. Elena pushed back on the other side as Kol felt the ache slowly ebb away, his leg healing. Planting his foot on the ground more firmly this time, he put a hard shove into the door and it burst open, knocking the doppelganger onto the ground. She stared at him in terror for half a second before blurring back to her feet and into the adjacent room that was linked to the one they were in, slamming the door behind her. Heaving the dresser aside, Kol approached the door before kicking it open only to find the room empty. Growing more and more irritated, he stalked over to the other door and punched through, ignoring the splinters. The siblings stood waiting on the other side, Jeremy firing a stake through his gun. The projectile was easily caught though.

"Missed," Kol growled, prompting the hunter to fire again, once again thwarted when Kol caught the other stake with his free hand. Elena pushed Jeremy aside and aimed her pistol, firing rapidly as Kol stumbled backwards.

"Go!"

The hunter took off running as his sister continued in her quest to stall the Original. Enraged, he launched one of the stakes into her thigh, eliciting a scream as she instinctively lowered the gun and held onto her wounded leg. Kol took her momentary distraction as an opportunity and got back to his feet, disappearing outside to go after Jeremy. He caught up to the teenager easily, throwing a punch into the boy's jaw, though with less force than what would have knocked him out or dislocated it. His prey momentarily startled, Kol threw him down the stairs, the latter crying out in pain, his vision swimming. From behind him, Kol felt Elena jump onto his back in an attempt to grab him, and twisted, getting a grip on her arm and tossing her into the wall where she slid off and landed in a heap on the ground. Turning to the railing, he grabbed and ripped one of the wooden posts off, fully intending to kill. The Original lifted his weapon over his head, his eyes focusing on the constant beating of her heart, loud to his ears.

Then he sent the wood down.

But at the very last second, the younger vampire scrambled forward, dragging her broken body just a few inches higher as the wood pierced through her back, missed her heart and buried itself into the floor. Elena screamed, gasping in pain as she struggled to get free. Her efforts were futile though as she tugged hopelessly at the makeshift stake. Kol sighed, turning back to the railing for a second stake before noticing that Jeremy was trying to get back up. So instead, he leaned against the railing and sighed, his eyes lingering on the doppelganger for a moment before deciding that she would not be able to get out.

"Now…" he said, more to himself than either of the two siblings, "about that arm…"

Sighing again, he descended the steps towards Jeremy, hopping over the teenager before grabbing him by the ankle and dragging him down the rest of the stairs. The hunter tried to grab hold of the posts but his efforts were useless, his fingers slipping off the wood.

* * *

Matt turned away from the hallway, his heart hammering in his chest. Rebekah had voluntarily given the dagger over to Stefan. Now, he had to somehow obtain the weapon from the vampire and dagger Rebekah. Despite the human's numerous experiences with the supernatural and the Originals alike, he could not help the nervous clenching of his stomach as he listened to the two vampires down the hall head out of the school. He had to act if the plan was going to succeed and he had to act soon. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, the quarterback turned out from the corner, before a hand grabbed him from behind. He barely managed to muffle the yell that threatened to escape his lips, spinning around to come face to face with the last person he thought he would meet: _April_.

The young teenager's eyes were panicked and flustered.

"Matt, where is Elena?"

The quarterback winced, backing away from the girl.

"What are you talking about?" he hissed in a small voice, hoping and praying that Rebekah could not hear them.

"Please stop playing dumb with me," April screeched, looking nothing like her usual self, "Damon's locked up with Klaus in the Salvatore Boarding House, Stefan's out there with Rebekah, trying to get the dagger from her; you're here, Bonnie's stuck in her house with her parents; Caroline and Tyler have gone off the grid after he was compelled to turn and last I heard of Jeremy, he was leaving Bonnie's house. I am really tired of keeping track of all of you and now, I'm going to ask you again, Matt, where the hell is Elena?!"

Matt turned to look down where Rebekah and Stefan had disappeared, sweat beading on his forehead.

"How do you know any of this?"

April chuckled humourlessly before sighing.

"I know about your plan to kill that Original, Kol, and I know Elena is at the helm of your ship. And if I have not made myself clear, I will repeat myself again. Where is Elena planning to kill Kol? Matt, please!"

Matt looked away from the girl, at a loss of what to do. He could not kill her, as far as he knew, she was human; he could not tell her anything; and he could not get away from her, he was fairly sure – given the psychotic look in her eyes – that she would give chase and he could not risk Rebekah hearing them. Matt opened his mouth to say something but was unable to come up with anything. April's breathing grew laboured and even more panicked before her eyes lit up.

"She invited Kol in, didn't she?"

Matt stared at her, growing increasingly panicky. _What was going on?_

"They're at her house. She _actually_ invited Kol in! That would have been the last place anyone expected her to attack."

Matt raised his hands carefully, shaking his head.

"April…"

The teenager pulled her phone from her pocket, her fingers trembling as she dialled a number on the screen, bringing it to her ear.

"They're at her house! Elena and Kol are at her house! Please!" April was starting to cry now, her forehead stained with sweat. A moment passed before she spoke again, simply replying a tentative 'yes' to whoever was on the other side of the line.

There was a short pause before April slowly pulled the phone away from her ear, her breathing calming down before she dropped the phone on the ground and without a moment's hesitation, stomped on the screen until it cracked and went dead. Matt watched the entire thing, not following what was going on before she pulled out a knife and looked him straight in the eye.

"Help me," she pleaded, tears in her eyes as her voice broke.

Then the moment was over and she charged at him, knife poised to kill.

* * *

It did not take long before they had arrived at the kitchen, Kol lifting Jeremy up easily and putting him on the island, before turning to rummage through the drawers. Jeremy blinked, trying to clear his vision. He was fairly certain the fall had given him a concussion.

"Kol, you don't have to do this."

The Original paused when he heard betrayal in the boy's tone. There was no point though, he had to stop them and besides, it was not like he was going to kill him. Finding a roll of duct tape, he pulled it out and started coiling it around the teenager's wrists, the latter struggling feebly. After getting the tape on, Kol tossed the roll aside, heading to the other end of the kitchen to grab a cleaver.

"Now, like I said, I don't fancy the Hunter's Curse, so I'm just going to chop off your arm," Kol told him, as if what he was offering was a good deal, "But don't worry; I'll heal you right up with a bit of blood after."

His comfort proved to be useless though, as Jeremy continued to struggle.

"Sorry about the sting. Now, which arm is it?" Kol asked, looking from one arm to the other, "Is it left or right?" The Original waited for a moment for his captive to respond but Jeremy stayed stubbornly silent, continuing to struggle against the bonds. Sighing, Kol continued, "Fine, I'll just chop off both to be safe."

Moving over to his right side, Kol raised the cleaver, as the teenager shrunk back into the island, squeezing his eyes shut. Kol almost felt bad but it had to be done and someone had to be the bad guy. Just as he was about to send the blade downward, the Original was thrown to the side, the doppelganger appearing before him. He had been so focused on Jeremy that he had neglected to ensure that she was still pinned down. Immediately, he regretted not having killed her.

The cleaver fell from his hand as Kol stumbled, the blade slicing through the bind on Jeremy's right arm. The hunter acted immediately, bolting upright and working on the other restraint as his sister lunged, slamming the Original into the cupboards behind him. She grabbed the abandoned cleaver and struck, the metal burying itself into his shoulder. Kol screamed; he could not help it. A thousand years of living did not make him immune to pain. He grabbed her arm, pulling her and the blade out as a small part of his mind registered the fact that Jeremy was now free. He turned, attempting to divide his attention between the approaching hunter and the baby vampire, only to be met with a shot of vervain-laced water straight in his face. Even diluted, the concoction burned the skin it touched and the Original pushed back against the cupboards, years of experience having had thrown itself out the window as the natural instinct to get away from the pain kicked into high gear. He held up his hands in front of him, his eyes _burning_ as they began to tear. The damned vervain had gotten into them and the Original could not see a thing. He made a blind swing in an arc around himself, trying to keep them off him long enough for his eyes to recover. But before he knew what was happening, the cleaver made a reappearance, going straight into the Original's abdomen as he doubled over in pain. He distantly felt Elena pull the White Oak stake from its spot in his jacket, tossing it to her brother whilst holding the cleaver in its place.

"Jeremy, now!"

The hunter caught the weapon easily, charging forward. Kol turned towards the sound of Jeremy's footsteps and made a wild swing. He heard the hunter jump backwards to avoid the attack as the Original started to blink rapidly in a vain attempt to speed up the healing. His vision was returning to him, but it was hopelessly blurry and all he could make out was a faint outline that could hardly tell Jeremy and furniture apart. But at the very least, he could see somewhat. Swinging around, he managed to hit Elena hard in the gut causing her to finally release her grip on the cleaver. Jeremy had armed himself with the hose again, turning the tap on as he attacked the Original. Kol hissed in pain, shooting forward and snatching the weapon before turning it on an approaching Elena. The young vampire sped off in the opposite direction, indistinguishable from the surroundings. Kol grunted in pain as he pulled the cleaver from his abdomen, his hands slippery from his own blood. He abandoned the hose and held the cleaver in front of him, noting that the siblings were on either side of him as the three of them were locked in a stalemate.

Quite abruptly, a familiar voice tore through the room.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

All three of them turned, Kol instantly recognizing his elder brother's voice. The Original frowned, his vision still foggy though he could now tell things apart. Nik was in on it, wasn't he? So what was going on? It was fairly obvious that the hybrid was not happy though, as he yelled at them from where he was stuck right outside the door, slamming against the invisible barrier. Kol blinked, he could make things out now and Nik's appearance had just served as a convenient distraction.

The Original lunged for the vampire at the same moment that the hunter lunged for the Original. Elena managed to escape from his grip, speeding in the opposite direction. In the background, Nik's shouting could be heard, spewing threats at the Gilbert siblings that they had apparently decided to ignore. Kol swung the cleaver around at Jeremy, managing to cause a shallow cut in his arm before the teenager pulled back, wincing. Kol took a step towards the hunter, baring his fangs before charging at him. Elena appeared behind the other vampire, hooking her arms around the Original's neck and throwing her entire body weight backwards to choke him. Kol coughed, twisting and grabbing her arm with his free hand as Jeremy repeated his assault with the vervain hose. Kol swung his arm in front of him, the cleaver slipping from his hand as he threw his attacker off his back. Elena, now on the floor in front of him, snagged the blade and sent it into his gut, the latter doubling forward. Elena sped out of the way as Jeremy resumed his vervain attack. Kol twisted around before he was abruptly knocked onto the ground, the blade still stuck in him. He rolled onto his back, his already-impaired vision swimming and his head throbbing as it hit the linoleum. Jeremy, standing to Kol's right, grabbed the White Oak stake where he had left it in one of the open cupboards and charged towards the Original, entirely intending to kill.

Then everything went silent and it was as if time had slowed down. In that one moment, he felt like he was not even there anymore, even as he watched his hand shoot out in an attempt to stop the hunter's attack. The pain was overwhelming; everything hurt, bombarding his senses. This was going to be how he died. He had lived a thousand years only to be killed in a moment of sheer misfortune, bordering dangerously on idiocy, by an amateur hunter and a baby vampire. Jeremy stood over him, the cursed form of the White Oak stake clear in his hand as he moved to plunge the wood into the Original's heart.

Kol _felt_ it, the wood going through the thin fabric of the shirt he had on and piercing the skin on his chest. He felt his sternum crack and give way to the weapon, granting it free access to his heart. He felt the little fragments of the bone scrape against tissue, eliciting even more pain from his chest. He felt the wood; how it burned the flesh it touched. And all this time, he had thought that the daggers had been bad. But then something miraculous happened.

It stopped.

Seconds before it would have sent him to his grave – permanently this time – the weapon had stopped in its descent, leaving him with his life. The force on the other end was gone. Kol took a moment to recover before he opened his eyes, not having had realised that he had closed them in the first place. He squinted at the sight before him, his eyes widening in shock.

* * *

Everything happened in a split second. One moment Kol had been lying on his back on the ground, Jeremy wielding the White Oak stake and going in for the kill. The next moment, the hunter had been roughly grabbed and thrown into the cupboards on the other side of the kitchen, the stake left uselessly in the Original's chest. Before Elena had time to process what had just happened, she was sent flying to the other side of the room, slamming hard into the wall. The White Oak stake had been ripped out of Kol's chest and with almost impossible accuracy, was sent hurtling straight into the doppelganger's gut, pinning her to the wall as she cried out in pain.

"Hello Elena."

The brunette gasped, half a moment passing before recognition hit her like a freight train.

"Jennel?"

For a moment they simply stared at each other, Elena trying hopelessly to pull the stake out of her. Behind them, Jeremy got up to his feet, looking from Kol to the two brunettes. Jennel spun around and smiled at the hunter but for all the friendliness it carried, it might as well have been the devil who was grinning at him.

"Jeremy, I did not expect to see you involved in this. What happened to your morals? Or does genocide no longer qualify to be in your list of 'do not's?"

Jeremy took a step towards Kol and Jennel chuckled coldly.

"Ah, please don't try that," she chimed, moving towards Elena and yanking the stake effortlessly out as the latter fell forward, "The weapon of choice is with me, see?" The vampire waved the stake demonstratively before grabbing Elena by the neck, not giving the doppelganger enough time to recover, and choking her. "And unless you want me to kill your sister, and believe me when I say I will, you better behave."

When Jeremy did not respond, Jennel flipped the stake around in her free hand, pointing it straight at Elena's heart.

"Try me."

The hunter stared in wide-eyed shock at the challenge, still contemplating over whether or not the girl would truly act on her threat. At that moment, Kol stirred, groaning. He seemed to recover from whatever it was that he had been in, staring blearily at the confrontation before him. His eyes widened when he spied the two vampires locked in conflict.

"Jennel?"

"It's been too long, Kol."

The brunette turned momentarily to the Original, her gaze softening by just the slightest bit before her attention snapped back to her hostage. Elena felt her head spin, her mind not following.

"Wait, you know each other?"

The older vampire grinned, tightening her grip on Elena's jugular.

"Well, I figured if there was going to be a Team Klaus, a Team Stefan and even a Team Shane, there has to be a Team Kol right?" Jennel stated, smirking, before promptly snapping Elena's neck.

* * *

_End of Part I: Chasing Shadows_

* * *

**A/N: Anddddddddddddd that's it folks, end of Part I! :D You didn't really think I would have killed Kol did you? Hahah~ **

**Congratulations if you saw that reveal coming, I don't really know how obvious it was since I am the author after all but meh, hope it was alright anyway. There is no way on Earth to entirely fix the nonsense that was the fight in "A View to a Kill", the entire premise was stupid, kind of like Finn's death. But I tried, gave the whole, vervain-blinded-him excuse and attempted to justify why he had not simply staked Elena when he had the chance so I hope this helped fix a bit of the gaping plot hole that is those hideous last moments of the episode. Anyways, there was a little more April in this though she was not exactly functioning on her own free will so voting on her Fanfiction fate is still open. Hope you all liked this part, it would be the least interesting out of the all those I have planned out since there is so much canon but to all who have stuck with this anyway, thank you so much and I hope this has paid off for you. :)**

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**Now, more IMPORTANT issues: **

**I know that in Chapter 3, I mentioned the issue of updating so following that, I should be updating once a week. However, it appears that I CANNOT continue that. Now, before you get your pitchforks and declare that I be staked, I HAVE been slogging over Part II; I've completed it up to about Chapter 15. The issue is however, that after re-reading it, I found that there is a SEVERE need for editing. There are some parts that are too rushed and some characters did not come out properly developed, etc etc and I would rather that I gave you all good quality work (or at least, my best quality work) rather than churn it out sub-standard. ****Plus, I need to go back to school soon so free time to work on this will be next to non-existent :(** So I will NOT be able to update for a period. Now, you all have two options (I seem to keep on doing this, so sorry):

**1. I can split the Part(s) into smaller parts according to the plot and upload those in a go (i.e. once a week) with a hiatus in between each small part. Kind of like season finale or mid-season finale hiatuses. Waiting time will be longer for each section but will be short once I do start updating. A variation of this will be that I wait until I complete the Part entirely and upload in a go but of course, waiting for me to start updating will be extremely long.**

**2. I can upload as I complete chapters but those, especially since I will be sentenced back to school soon, will be irregular and in other words, neither you nor I will have any idea when the next time I can complete and upload a chapter will be. But of course, waiting time will be shorter in-between chapters.**

**If you all have any other suggestions, feel free to shoot. I am personally more inclined to option 1 so I will go with that if no one says anything. However, just in case you now think I'm going to disappear off the planet, I can assure you that I WILL NOT. I WILL finish this story, it's just that real-life has caught up to me a little and I really need to attend to it right now. So hope that you all will continue to support this anyway, even though the author is a procrastinating and at the moment, really irritating person.**

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**All that aside, Part II will be covering the back story of the relationship between Kol and Jennel so the prologue will finally make sense. YAY!~ Without further ado, here's the summary:**

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_Part II: Blood & Dagger_

_He killed for the thrill, to survive, and to feel alive; she killed to protect, to avenge, and to fulfil her duty. When their fates collide, will they be pushed apart, or can they help one another pick up the broken pieces? Fire and ice, light and shadow; maybe, they were not so different after all._

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**Interesting? ;) Hahah~ One last thing, I have started a section on my profile page for updates so you all can check that every once in a while and I'll try to keep that alive at least. So till next time, adios! Math homework beckons :(**


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